Cold Day in Hell
by The Writer's Den
Summary: It would be a cold day in hell before you see Sephiroth put up with Reno's smart mouth. Let alone team up with him to save the planet in the place of AVALANCHE. Well, hell just froze over. Chocobogoddess and Drakonlily (Feat. Lindz and Sol as Tseng)
1. Sephiroth: You Know, I Really Do

_Sephiroth: You Know, I Really Do Have a Heart. or I Did 'Til I Lost It

* * *

_

Every night, the same place, the same smile.

"Would you like to buy a flower? Only one gil apiece…"

Her existence should have been impossible. Here, in this open-air dungeon that had the gall to call itself a city, someone with that kind of purity, that kind of innocence…how could she have lived her whole life and remained untouched by this place?

The contents of her basket should not have existed, either. Perhaps if she'd grown up in Kalm, or Wutai, someplace green and peaceful, I would have believed that she was real, but Midgar? I could feel her presence, as though the scent of those improbable flowers clung to the air around me. She moved among the black metal lampposts, offering flowers to tired commuters at the end of their days.

I spent the first evening watching her from the shadows of an alley. Her smile never wavered, her voice never faltered, but I knew, somehow, that she was miserable. And why shouldn't she be, living as she did in Midgar's ghetto, rarely seeing the sun, knowing that just outside the high city walls, untouchable, living plains stretched for miles? I knew the feeling. We were both trapped here.

That night, as she prepared to leave and pocketed her meager earnings, I got a call from one of my men. He claimed to have found the Ancient, and that he was going to take her with him above the Plate. I could have smiled. They were chasing a phantom, I knew, though I would have to pretend that the unfortunate soul they'd captured might actually be the one for whom we searched. The poor girl would be taken in, questioned, tested, and released within three or four days. It was what always happened. I knew my men were looking in all the wrong places.

For she stood not twenty feet from me, with her threadbare clothes and her basket of flowers.

I would make certain that my men would never find her.

The next night I watched her again. Though something drew me to her, I had not spoken to her, nor revealed my presence at all. I was the model General of ShinRa. I could be as silent and still as an object if I needed to be. She would never find me, never notice me, never…

"Sir? C-can I help you?"

I came back to myself with a start. She was standing before me, out of arm's reach, a worried expression clouding her eyes. Those deep, incredibly green eyes. "What?"

"You looked…umm, out of it for a moment. Why don't you ever say anything? Why have you been watching me?" Her hand rested on a silver canister that had been hidden by the flowers. A collapsible staff? Innocent she might be, but naïve, she definitely was not.

"I? Watching you?" I scoffed. "What ever gave you that idea?"

She smiled. Gods, she smiled. Like she knew everything I'd thought, like she knew I was lying through my teeth. "The fact that you stood here last night and all night tonight without saying anything? I can practically feel your eyes. Though, what General Sephiroth would want with me is quite beyond my understanding."

"You know me?" was all I could think of to say. And here I'd always thought of myself as witty. Of course she knew me. Everyone knew me.

At least it made her laugh. "Of course I do." She relaxed a little, that smile still curling her lips.

"I was merely curious," I covered, "How you can possibly live on the money you make from this."

It had been the wrong thing to say. Her face immediately closed up, the glorious smile fading. I was sorry to see it go. "I make do. If that's all…" she turned to go, a slight huff in her action.

"Wait," I heard myself say, catching her arm lightly before she could leave. We both looked down at my hand and back up at each other. I let her go, rather unwillingly. "I'm sorry to offend you. I just…wondered about you. How you manage to find flowers down here, and how you can pretend so well to be cheerful, when you really wish you were someplace else."

The sadness that crossed her face was so fleeting I almost wondered if I'd really seen it. "Do you make a habit of striking up conversations with strangers about their private thoughts?"

"Do you make a habit of talking to men in dark alleys?" I countered, raising a brow.

"No," she said, walking away, "But for you, I made an exception."

"Will I see you tomorrow night?" I called after her.

She looked over her shoulder, some of the earlier mischief back in her eyes. Thank the Gods. "Only if you decide to come back. I will be here either way."

And then she was gone.

* * *

Perhaps a bit of explanation is in order. I am Sephiroth, once famous for being the glamorous general of ShinRa Power's Corporate Army. I led them in the war of Wutai (more of a slaughter, really); I rode a black chocobo in countless parades (ah, propaganda); I suffered my picture to be taken and plastered on magazine covers, tabloid pages, posters for teenage girls' walls (not to mention the fashion shoots); all in all, I was a celebrity.

Celebrity. What a joke. Even then, even before I met the flower girl, I knew my life meant nothing. I was a symbol of—what? ShinRa's power? Don't make me laugh. ShinRa was a piece of flawed pottery, nothing more. Beautiful on the outside, seemingly solid, but there was nothing but air beneath the glossy surface. They owned the world, though they would eventually crumble like that same pottery—

I'm sorry. I'm getting ahead of myself.

I grew up in Nibelheim, in a state-of-the-art laboratory. My mother died when I was born, and my father—well, that's what he always claimed he was, though it didn't make me hate him any less—raised me. For the first part of my life, I trained in every combat art: hand-to-hand, spear, guns, hell, even archery. I excelled, however, in swordsmanship. The moment I touched a blade for the first time, I knew it was what I'd been born to do.

When I was twelve, the tests decreased and the training increased. I began to train with other boys my age, though none of them matched my prowess with the sword. I met one boy in particular there, a Wutaian by the name of Tseng. We were paired together once for hand-to-hand, all-out sparring. Somehow, he slipped, and caught me in the eye with his elbow. I threw the rules aside and went after him.

Girls fight to maim and disfigure. Boys fight to kill. I was stronger than the other boys then, but Tseng was fast. By the time the instructors pried us apart, both of us were bleeding, staggering from too many blows to the head. My father came running out, screaming at the instructors, the other boys, the assistants, worried that his precious "experiment" was damaged. No, you heard me correctly, not his son, his experiment.

I ignored them all. I couldn't believe my eyes. After the beating I'd just dished out—and received—Tseng was smiling! Our eyes met for a moment, and his grin grew wider. I felt my own mouth twitch into an answering grin. My father started yelling at me, too, but it didn't matter. I held out my hand to Tseng, still grinning like a madman. He clasped it for just a moment before the instructors dragged us off in different directions.

I had gained my first friend.

A few years went by. The training continued, the tests continued, and they started to teach me strategy, tactics, and leadership skills. No one bothered to tell me why my education differed from that of, say, Tseng's. He and the other boys were learning espionage, covert operations. Sharpshooting. The finer points of hand-to-hand.

Until I was sixteen or so, I thought ShinRa was a kingdom. When I began learning modern history and politics, however, I found myself proved very wrong. I learned that the President had taken an upstart electrical company and turned it into a global power in its own right. Most people called him a visionary and a ruthless yet strong leader.

Somehow, I knew it couldn't be right.

Finally, when I was seventeen, President ShinRa himself came to visit me. I stood in a richly appointed room with my hands at my sides, while "Don't-call-me-father-in-private" Hojo paced around me. He extolled my virtues, my strong qualities of leadership and strategic thought, my unmatched skill with the sword. The President let him rant on and on about societal ramifications, blood tests, results from training, until the fat man waved a hand and interrupted him.

"I just want to know, Hojo, can he get the job done? Can he whip that gods-damned country into submission?"

"Of course, Mr. President," Hojo closed his folder with a snap. He glared at me from beyond the President's line of sight, cuing me to speak. I hate prepared speeches, and this would only be the first of many that I'd give.

"I am prepared to fight for the glory of ShinRa, Sir," I said, still not looking at him. Standing at attention had its benefits. "Please let me lead your army."

ShinRa laughed, slapping me on the back. It was all I could do not to grab the meaty wrist and flip him. Then I was ignored for the rest of the meeting, which involved making plans for my future. No one ever asked me what I wanted to do, or when. I was still only a boy; I didn't know enough then to talk back. I was like a behemoth that had been raised to believe that a narrow rope would always hold it, even when it could escape with barely a tug.

A few months later, just after I turned eighteen, I was flown in to Midgar. With typical ShinRa grandeur, I was met by a red velvet carpet and two beautiful women in sparkling gowns. Scores of photographers took picture after picture of my descent (yes, pun intended) from the sleek black helicopter to the top of the Tower. I just wanted to get some rest after that long flight, but the President was there, making one of his legendary speeches. They were legendary for their length, mind you, not their content. I don't remember a single important thing he ever said in his entire life.

At last, the fervor died down and I was allowed to go to my new quarters. I had to practically pry one of the women off my arm, I was so tired.

The following day, I took a tour of the SOLDIER barracks. I was met with a mixture of awe and skepticism. I knew what they were thinking: everyone wondered how some eighteen-year-old kid would be able to lead ShinRa's army. Hells, I wondered about it myself.

The first person I met was the man I'd be replacing. Now, that was an awkward situation if I ever saw one. Zax was a big man, shorter than me, but broader. He wore his long black hair in unruly spikes, a fashion that was attempted with less success by some of the younger men. He was older than me by about six years, with the hard-edged look that came from living in Midgar. "So you're the new General?" he asked, looking me up and down.

"I am," I replied, offering my hand. Feeling a bit embarrassed, for I knew it must be killing him to relinquish his position to an untried boy, I added, "I'm still getting my bearings, Lieutenant. I'd appreciate your help, if you're willing."

He regarded me suspiciously, then shrugged and clasped my hand. "Welcome to SOLDIER, General."

That was my second friend.

* * *

But I was talking about the flower girl, wasn't I?

The first night, I had watched without even realizing who I'd found. All I could see were those eyes, that smile. For some reason, I couldn't stop thinking about her. I might have gone back night after night, except that she came to me and shattered my illusion that I was an expert spy.

Ah, well, nowhere in the list of specs for being a model General does it say I need to be good at stealth. I just have to be good at leading soldiers and killing people, and I am exceptional at both.

I returned the next night, even more intrigued now that she had found me. She glanced over her shoulder at me and gave me a wink and a brief smile before helping a patron pick several stems for a bouquet.

She collected her money and turned to me, only to be stopped by someone else who wanted a flower. Amazing how I finally got a chance to talk to her at length, and that happened to be the moment she got flooded with customers. I couldn't begrudge her, though; I knew she worked hard. That much business was a boon to her.

The last train left, finally, and with it, her last customers. She looked tired but happy. Only one flower remained in her basket. She must have forgotten I was there, for she picked it up, talking quietly.

"There, there, I'll take you home with me," she said as she raised the bud to her lips and placed a gentle kiss on the petals.

I had to own that flower. It could have been withered and brown and I wouldn't have cared. A quick search of my pockets rewarded me with a single, worn coin. One gil.

Realization at what she'd done crossed her face. Her cheeks colored when she remembered I was waiting for her. Putting the flower away in embarrassment, she approached me. "Sorry about that; usually I don't get so busy."

"It's all right," I murmured, "but you still have one left." I held out the money.

"Oh! You don't have to do that," she laughed.

"I want to buy a flower. You said they were one gil apiece." I took the hand she was using to gesture carelessly and placed the coin on her palm, closing her fingers about it.

I couldn't move my hands from hers. We just stood there in the darkness, looking at each other. Her eyes were dark in the dim light, her pale skin highlighted by the green of a neon sign. It reminded me of the color of Mako, but softer somehow, something that tugged at the edge of my memory. Something living…

She blinked, carefully pulling her hand away. Looking down, she once more removed the flower from the basket and handed it to me. "Thank you," she nearly whispered. I would have given anything to know what she was thinking as I accepted it.

It was a rose, of course, two of its petals crushed from the weight of its fellows. "It's late," I said instead of asking her where she'd kissed it. "You should get home."

"I'm sorry," she repeated, but I stopped her.

"Don't be. I will come again, I promise." I held up the rose. "Besides, it was worth staying. I got to buy a flower." I smiled at her and nonchalantly touched the bud to my lips as if to say, 'see you'.

It was just an excuse, and we both knew it. Before the cocky smirk I wore could fade under her scrutiny, I spun on my heel and walked away.

We both knew I'd be back the next night.


	2. Reno: ShinRa Was Control

_Reno: ShinRa Was Control

* * *

_

Control.

Such a simple word, yet the meaning is so profound that you immediately feel trapped when I say it. And that was the definition of my workplace. Workplace of course, is read, hell that I had no other choice but to live in or else. You can just say ShinRa, I mean, it's the same damn thing.

I am from Midgar, born in a hotel room, to a woman that never really wanted me. She wasn't really a woman, odds are she wasn't even fifteen and I wasn't her first child. That is how life had to work deep in the slums of that unholy death trap some people called a city. I will never hold a grudge on her, if I do meet her one day, what she did was in my best interest. She dumped me on an orphanage's door stop a few hours after I was born. I would tell you the date but I don't know it, just in case you were wondering. They kept me till I was of legal age to throw out on my ass- eleven. From there I started working for Don Corneo at the Honey Bee Inn.

I know, you think this is going to be some damn "pity me" story. Well it isn't. I don't need fucking pity, so go to hell. The Don used kids as workers- maintenance and clean up stuff- until he could bully or bribe them into being "private entertainers". That means "whores" for the sheltered out there. I lead a towel boy existence for about two years.

I never did belong there, nothing felt right. From the dirty towels I washed to the way my clothes smelled of other's people's sex, I felt out of place. Sure, it was an easy way to get laid early in my life but what does that matter now? All I knew was I didn't belong.

I saved a bit of gil, not a lot, but enough to quit the Don's for a while. I wanted to find something more productive to do with myself. I was so fucking naïve. The Don didn't want to lose me, so he offered me a raise and a new position. Apparently some of his regulars liked my hair…

Women loved it, some men loved it, I hated my hair. It's that bright fire toned shade of red, like I have been out in the sun my whole life. I stood out like a sore thumb under the plate. Hell, I didn't know there was a sun back then. I just had this damned red hair. It was the source of never ending cat calls. I have also always been on the tall side, in short nothing helped me to blend into a place where everything is brown or black or somehow dirty. Even my hair, didn't seem to want me to belong.

I told the Don to go fuck himself. He didn't like that. Lucky for me I was always fast or this story would be much different, if I would be alive to tell it at all. He had five grown thugs after me before I knew it. I ran into the alley ways and I should have been afraid. I wasn't, I was pissed.

Yes, I was always self righteous, just in case you were wondering. I always felt like I saw something the rest of the world didn't. If they would just stop, take a moment and look at themselves, they would see what I saw. But no one did. And that feeling stayed with me, even when my life was at stake.

I lead those goons down more twisted paths, to a reactor area. I knew for a fact it had a catwalk that was loose, some kids had fallen off it a week ago. One of those kids was wearing a bright red bandanna that still hung on that walkway. It gave me an idea. Those guys were just dumb enough to mistake a bandanna for hair in the foggy steam of a reactor. I ran harder, putting space in between me and the idiots. They followed after me, only thinking of what they would be able to do to me when they caught me. Never once considering that I would be plotting. I could have never been a thug; I swear they would had to have done a lobotomy. I slammed the old tower door shut and ran up to the top. There I waited.

It wasn't long till I heard a scream and a crash. I laughed out loud and sauntered to the ledge of the catwalk. There, thug number three was trying to help up thugs one and two. Four and five were already nice little splats being soaked up by the grit on the highway. Something had to give, I needed to lash out. I yelled at the last man, who spun with a shocked look. It barely took a half shove to knock him over. I watched them fall, guilty of my first multiple homicide.

I got up from watching their fall and walked down to the ground, right into the arms of the waiting law enforcement. Apparently Corneo had claimed that I stole something and sent his thugs out. I was arrested not only for a multiple murder but a robbery that I never committed. I learned life got worse then the Don's. _Much_ worse.

I was thirteen years old with a life sentence, in the same place with the other murderers. I had my first fight the day I walked in and got my skinny ass handed to me. I would rather not discuss the incident again. I learned fast though, if I hadn't I would have spent the rest of my short life wishing the Don's men had caught me. By the time I was fourteen I had a reputation of winning fights, by any means necessary. Fighting kept me alive, just long enough to fight again. There was only one good thing about being in jail. I learned to read.

I did read -often. Anything I could hold, the more I read, the more I felt that rebellious, out-of-place feeling. Somehow, reading made it seem alright to feel the way I did; that something was wrong. But books were- in my mind -just fantasies. Grass didn't really exist, there was no such thing as a sun. This is going to sound stupid. I didn't belong at the Don's or in jail. I know all the slum rats said that. But ask them where they did belong and they didn't know. I belonged in school. I wanted to be a writer.

Yeah a writer, they can take people to a world that never will ever occur. I could picture green fields and sunshine when I didn't think such things were real. I wanted to do that, it would give me a reason to feel this way. That would validate my own emotions. But that was some stupid dream. I liked having it though, I was only fourteen I could dream. Just when I thought that I couldn't be in a place more wrong for me, kicking and screaming I was dragged to the last place I belonged. To ShinRa.

And I thought that I knew hell already…

In ShinRa you were a number, a specimen number. Mine was Turk Model 341279 aka Reno, just in case you were wondering. I will remember that number till the day I die, I will also remember that cold scientific hand and voice that made me what I am. ShinRa had an army. A huge one, made up of three basic classes of mako enhanced SOLDIERS. They were the spine of the army, strong, not too bright or too fast. Takes more then a silver bullet to kill them let me tell you. Their heads were made of steel and that was just about how smart they were. They had levels, lowest is three, highest is one. Then they had two elitist groups. I was part of one. The Turks.

Turks were also Hojo's favorite toys. He had the full authority on any "enhancements" that we got. Needless to say you can get some real freaks out of the mind of a mad man with very deep pockets. Then again, maybe we were all freaks. Turks were the specialized units of the army, for strength, for speed, for control. We were designed to run in groups no larger then four. One strong guy, one dead shot, one undercover model or one stealth model. I'm a stealth model, just in case you were wondering. I run a mile in about four minutes and you won't hear me coming.

Hojo was what made us behave. He was evil. Not that "ohhh creepy and diabolical vampire in the dungeon" way. No, that's so cliché, Hojo- I will never call him a man- was pure unrelenting evil. To make matters even worse he was brilliant. So smart that he literally _was_ above all he saw at least in that aspect. I don't know why he turned the way he did, I read some of his older studies. But somehow he became that monster that still haunts me. Read his first study and then read my file if you have a barf bag. You'll need one.

Strait and to the point, if you didn't behave you were sent to him. He made you behave. He made you scream. He made you beg for him to kill you and he never did. When I entered ShinRa I was bound and determined not to behave. I was sent to Hojo for an "attitude adjustment". These scars on my face aren't intentional on my part, it was all him. One thing I can claim, the one thing I can say I did and no one else to my knowledge can claim, is that Hojo never once made me beg. Scream? Yes. Pass out from blood loss or pain? Many times. But that monster never once made me beg for my life. I am damn proud of myself.

I went back to training, after almost eight months of sheer hell. I learned a lesson alright, just not the one I think they wanted me to. Instead of coming out loyal and brainwashed I came out with a purpose. I was going to see this company fall. I wanted to kill ShinRa, Hojo, all of them. They were teaching me how to be a very good killer. I started to just _slightly_ disobey. Nothing worth ShinRa sending me back to Hojo. But I learned what rules to break and I broke them well. That is why they sent me to the General.

That would be the newest and most interesting model in ShinRa. The General Model 000001, code name: Sephiroth Hojo. From day one I didn't believe then that they were related. You couldn't have fed me that if it were prime rib. Yeah, they were both smart and great at what they did. But honestly, Seph was the one man in ShinRa who I actually had some form of respect for the moment I saw him. That was because he immediately knew I was only giving very little of myself to be controlled by him. I would follow his orders, just to the letter and not a punctuation more. Unbelievably, I had found my first real joy in life all because of ShinRa. That thing was mental war with General Sephiroth. I suppose that's why I knew something wasn't right with him and Hojo. You see, I liked Seph.

He was raised and reared by ShinRa. To do just his job and his job alone. He was in control from the age of 18 when he walked on. At least of the trainees he was. He was as much a tool as the rest of us, doing what we were told out of fear of Hojo. But for some reason he stuck out. He seemed to know that something wasn't right with ShinRa the same as I did. I even got the feeling that he enjoyed yelling at me sometimes. Out of over thirty problem recruits he had that year, he learned my name quickest.

He didn't learn my name quickly because I excelled. No, he learned it because I was always at some sort of odds with him. He would tell me to do something and I would do just that and nothing more. In fact I stood in place for over thirty six hours once because he told me to "stand still". I wouldn't take the order to move from anyone of a lesser rank then he was. He walked back in and glared at me, for almost five whole minutes we stared at each other. I couldn't tell if he was amused or not. I almost got the feeling he respected me

At least, there were times I felt he went out of his way to speak with me, more like lectures. You see, my little stay with Hojo was pretty well known. There were those who didn't know my name at all, but they knew my face. What can I say? I was infamous. Last "Talk" I had with Seph was just before I became a full Turk. "Just do what you are told Reno?" I snorted at him, by now the man should have known I _always_ did just what I was told. He sighed, pinching his nose.

Seph and I had a little game going on, I enjoyed pissing my superiors off, but I was not stupid. I knew that Hojo would break me if he tried hard enough. So, I pretended to be a fairly good Turk Model. I was only 16, I had a long life to live. I could wait for any revenge. So I went into the Turks, and I found something that almost resembled family in Tseng and Rude. Hell, I will admit it, never to them though, I really loved those guys like brothers.

When we got asked to find a "Cetra" specimen for Hojo that the SOLDIERS couldn't find, (you recall my none too bright comments right?) Tseng asked me to follow her. He told me she was just a girl, she was only 18. I guess he forgot that I had barely turned 19 to the best I could figure. "One of those kids you can't help but want to protect" he told me, his Wutain accent showing. Just in case you were wondering it only _did_ show when he was worried, mad, or really drunk. So I nodded, took my orders and did what I do best- followed them to the letter and not a fraction more. I looked for the girl, found her, and kept looking for her. Hey, she moved. My orders never were to touch her, just to say where she was. But she was never still enough to be where I left her. I so hated wasting ShinRa time. It didn't take me long to figure out why Tseng wanted to keep this "last of the Cetra" safe.

She was beautiful, sweet, delicate, innocent. I could smell it on her it was so pure. The place that made me what I was somehow had no effect on her. She stood out more so then even I used to, before my scars, before Hojo made me a Turk. There was more then something different about her, it was the way I felt when I read.

Right here, at this moment, I want to make perfectly clear that I wasn't falling for the girl. I like much more energetic and much less innocent girls, basically the opposite of her. I need a girl I can fight with. You know, one with spunk, vigor, the kind that will sock you in the face if she has to. Not that I had ever met a girl worth falling for in the first place. I wasn't made to fall in love, I was made to kill people.

The Cetra, Aerith was her name, certainly worked hard though, same boring ass routine every day, always to go home and cry at her mother's failing health. I felt bad for her, but I was sticking my neck out as it was letting her keep what little freedom the slums gave her. So I continued to follow her, how can people do the same thing all the damn time? I mean seriously. I could set my watch by her.

I had been following her for months and then she was late. I will admit that I was worried about her, anyone could have picked up on what she does every day. Could someone have snatched her when I went to get some lunch? Probably that guy that kept watching her and talking to her. I thought that I should have followed him home to check on him. That would have been a shit, Tseng would try to kill me. Not that he could, not that I cared if he did. I was just about to go in when then I saw who kept her. My eyes went wide.

"Well I'll be damned, you both shocked the hell outta me for once." Locked in a passionate embrace with the innocent little Cetra, was none other then the Great General Sephiroth.


	3. Sephiroth: You Honestly Think I Could S...

_Sephiroth: You Honestly Think I Could Stay Away?

* * *

_

I did return to that street corner to see her. I was there the next night, and the night after that, and the one after that, until it seemed as though I'd never done anything else. If she had been anyone else, perhaps I might have grown bored with seeing her more often, pehaps the long trip down under the plate would become too tedious, but it never happened. If anything, I wanted to be near her more than ever.

It was unnerving, for I had always been the kind of man who had a different girl every week if I wanted. I had never been very social, but even my acquaintances started wondering where I went every night. There were a few quiet jokes about the Honey Bee inn, though no one felt brave enough to say anything to my face.

It suited me just fine. So long as I did my job during the day, no one cared where I spent my nights.

I began walking Aerith back to her church. She brought me there one night, to show me the miracle that was her garden. I remember seeing it, the broken roof, the bucket of tools on the altar, the bits of stained glass that still somehow managed to cling to their frames. I listened to her talk about how pieces of sunlight filtered down here, though how they managed that, I will never know. This deep under the plate, people went their whole lives without seeing the sky.

Bit by bit, we learned about each other, reading the meanings under our words and watching each other carefully. I told her about my childhood, about growing up in the lab and then with the other boys. She told me about coming to Midgar in the night, her mother's death, and Elmyra's—her stepmother's—charity. I made her laugh with my descriptions of tedious dinners and the dignitaries who attended them.

At one point we found ourselves talking about past loves. I hadn't any; I'd never had the time for serious relationships, though I almost always had someone on my arm for publicity purposes. After I amused her with tales of some of the bolder women I'd met, it was her turn.

She told me about a SOLDIER named Zax.

* * *

Zax. I gave him as much work to do as he wanted. The man was a veritable workhorse. I treated him like any other soldier, expecting nothing but the best from him. I know I worked him hard, but he would have taken it as a sign of weakness if I hadn't.

He hid his bitterness well. I always knew he nursed his hurt at being displaced when I arrived, but what could I do? I was as much a puppet as he was. We were both always under ShinRa's rule, ShinRa's thumbs. The President, that fat bastard—well, he _was_—led us around the globe to do his bidding, then paraded us in front of the masses. He was shrewd, too, because when people protested the war on Wutai, whom do you think took the heat? Certainly not Mr. President. And because I was the golden boy, usually the blame for failure fell on Zax.

I didn't want it that way. Zax was always philosophical about it. At least, his words were. Gods, if I ever failed anyone in my life, it was him. The man was six years older than me, but he had to stand and take whatever abuse the President heaped upon him. I tried to intervene once, but both he and the President looked straight at me as if I were speaking in tongues. They both understood what was going on, and I was just an intruder.

After that, I didn't interfere.

I'd been General for five years when things seemed to start looking up. I was twenty-three by then, and already a veteran several times over. Zax was almost twenty-nine. One day, he came into my office, whistling. I remember him leaning insolently in the doorway, waiting for me to acknowledge him. He had big news, obviously, but I decided to see how long it would take before he blurted it out.

His posture grew strained, as if pretending to be nonchalant was difficult work. Finally I relented and looked up. "Yes, Lieutenant?" I'm sure I smirked.

"'Bout damn time you asked," he grumbled, taking a one of the chairs in front of my desk and flopping down into it. "I met _her_."

"Who?" Another thing about him; he was always meeting the girl of his dreams. At last count, about eight different girls were 'the one', though that wasn't counting the ones he dated in between.

"The One." When I scoffed and went back to my paperwork, he protested. "No, gods, Sephiroth, you don't get it. She is the One!" He leapt up and began pacing the room. "She's got these eyes…"

"Blue?" I asked, not looking up.

"No, fuck you, they're green," he said without much heat. "Green, like…like…rose petals…" He seemed to catch himself. "And this smile…gods! And hair…"

"Really, she has hair?" I couldn't resist the quip.

He stopped pacing and put both hands flat on my desk. "Seph, I'm serious. She's beautiful." He waited until I finally did look up at him. "I'm gonna marry her, I swear."

Now, that was odd. Zax was talking about marriage? Maybe she _was_ the one. Gods knew, she must have been the only woman he hadn't slept with until now. "Really?" I remained skeptical.

"Seph," he said, very quietly, "I haven't even slept with her."

To hear him admit that he hadn't been with a woman, especially one he was that head over heels for, was about the same as hearing that Hojo had found a specimen too perfect to cut open. I shoved THAT pleasant image aside and peered up at him. There was one last suspicion in my mind… "Zax, how old is she?"

"Dammit, Seph, you think that's the only thing keeping me from—"

"I _know_ you."

He looked sheepish. "She's sixteen." At my expression, he hastily added, "But that's not what's keeping me from—"

Honestly, sometimes I felt like the older one. "Zax," I stopped him, "She's half your age. For the gods' sake, there have to be women around who won't get you landed in jail for something statutory!" He prepared to defend himself, but I barely gave him time to draw breath. Slapping a file down on my desk, I became General Sephiroth instead of just Seph. "I need your mind on your job, Lieutenant. Your next assignment is in Nibelheim, where you will inspect the reactor. Get a team together and be prepared to leave tomorrow morning."

"But Seph—General, I'm supposed to take her out on the town tomorrow!"

"You'll have to put those plans on hold, then. This just came down from the President, not half an hour before you arrived. I want you on that transport first thing in the morning." I waited for any further outbursts from him, but there were none. He couldn't ignore orders from the President. "Is there anything else you wished to discuss, Lieutenant?"

"No, sir." Zax was cold, angry at me, but more angry at ShinRa.

"Then you are dismissed. Choose your team and report back here for your official orders. I will have them ready for you by then."

He saluted stiffly, then turned on his heel to go.

It was the last time I'd ever see him. The reactor exploded, killing him, his team, and burning the town to the ground. I went to his memorial service and laid flowers on his grave marker.

* * *

"I'm glad you didn't let him meet me that last time," Aerith murmured.

"Why?" I was baffled. "I always thought, from what Zax said…"

"I didn't really like him." She colored, slightly ashamed. "It's terrible of me to say that about someone who's dead, I know, but he scared me. I think—if he'd thought he would be gone a while, he would have—well." She shook herself and looked up at me from where she sat on the altar steps. "It's all in the past, anyway. It's too bad he died. He wasn't a bad person."

And that was that. We moved on to safer, less charged topics.

Days went by, then weeks. Every night I could get away, I met her on her corner while my men ran a wild-goose chase on the other side of the City.

I was supposed to be hunting her, but no one had ever bothered to tell me why. When I discovered what Hojo planned, what he and the President wanted to do with her, I started imagining ways to kill them both. Hojo had convinced the President that the fabled Promised Land of the Cetra held the key to more money, more power than ShinRa already had. It was not difficult from there to make a suggestion that they find her, and experiment upon the very last living being with Cetra blood.

I was disgusted and furious. How could they think that way? How could they make their plans as though she had no feelings? She wasn't a doll, a toy for their greedy paws to play with! She was a living, breathing, beautiful woman. How could they think to treat her like…like…

Me?

Just like…me.

That should have been my first clue that I was changing. It wasn't until I'd been seeing her for almost three months that things truly became clear to me. I needed to get out of Midgar, away from ShinRa, and I needed to take Aerith with me. She, however, was reluctant to go until she knew that her stepmother would be cared for.

The old woman had cancer. It wasn't uncommon under the Plate, but despite its frequency, it was rare for most people to afford the treatment they needed. Once I learned the full scope of Elmyra's illness, I checked her into a hospital above the Plate and set up a self-perpetuating fund with some of my formerly useless earnings. I didn't need the money, anyway; I was rich beyond anything I would ever need. Besides, there was some selfishness in the act of kindness: it meant that Aerith and I could see each other alone.

Things between us had accelerated, one might say. I began staying the night at her house, then would hurry home in the wee hours of the morning. Whenever it rained, I would take her above the Plate to visit her stepmother, then escort her back home.

I made an offer one night without considering the possible consequences.

Not once did it cross my mind that someone might see us. I just wanted to show her my apartment, and the view of Midgar I'd always told her about. All we had to do was remain silent, because all private rooms in the ShinRa Tower were bugged. I told her to keep her head down as we went through the Tower's echoing main lobby to the elevators. "Don't speak," I murmured, "Just nod or shake your head. I'll just show you around and make some coffee, then we'll go."

It didn't quite work that way, of course. We stepped into my apartment on the 15th floor, our footsteps muffled by the heavy black carpet. I went into the kitchen as she walked around the room, running her hands over the back of the couch, along the sleek surface of the bar. Once the coffee had been started, I joined her in looking out the huge plate-glass window at Midgar sprawled below. We stood there for a while, my arms about her from behind, and then I took her hand to show her the rest of the place.

I led her down the hall to show her my library office, the bathroom…the bedroom, of course. It was surreal, to be doing this without speaking. The only sounds we made were from the rustle of our clothing and the occasional sigh. It pricked at the back of my mind then, that perhaps I shouldn't have brought her here.

She had walked a few steps ahead of me, taking in my spare furnishings. When she realized I wasn't beside her, she turned to look at me, a question on her face. Every thought in my head stopped.

She was beautiful, standing in the middle of my room, the only light coming from the city below. All the warnings, all the things I should have been worrying about just disappeared like smoke as I crossed to her. I hadn't meant for it to happen like that, but I couldn't avoid it.

Suddenly it was very important that we get to the bed. How we managed it all in total silence, I'll never know, but it was worth every bit of the effort of sneaking around. It was amazing to see that glorious hair spread out over my pillows, her skin creamy pale against the black sheets, her eyes half-closed the few times I pulled away from her mouth to look down at her. I wished I could shout her name aloud, but all I could do was bury my face in the pillow beside her head and pray she heard my thoughts in those last few moments.

Gods.

We both knew we had to leave, but neither of us was willing to move. At last, I forced myself to get out of bed. Midgar still shone up at me, its multicolored lights flickering for as far as I could see. The possible gravity of our situation still hadn't sunk in yet, but there were tiny thoughts coming to the surface of my mind.

All my life, I'd followed orders, given orders, fought for ShinRa and its bloated sense of importance. But why? Certainly not because I'd wanted to. I had been born to ShinRa, created to serve ShinRa's purposes, no matter how clearly I saw through their flattery and lies. Hojo had bullied me, me, Sephiroth, the most powerful man on the Planet save the President, and I had always let him.

But what was the purpose? Why should I let them control me? Why should I continue to put so much effort into perpetuating an entity I hated? I glanced back at the bed when she stirred. That was something worthwhile. Would I give my life for ShinRa? If it really came down to it? Never. Would I die for her, though?

Without a second thought. And then if I was revived, I'd let them kill me again.

Then what should I do about it? She needed to be taken away from Midgar, to someplace safe. She couldn't stay here, not where ShinRa could find her. I had to get her out of here. Somehow.

Whatever had to be done, it would wait. I needed to get her out of the Tower and back home under the Plate before anyone found us out.

I didn't know that it was already too late.


	4. Reno: Witness to Madness

_Reno: Witness to Madness_

If the fact that it was Sephiroth there with her wasn't enough, what I saw next shocked me. I am not easy to shock and this job did it twice. There was a crackle in the air around them. I had no idea what to make of it. Her face flushed, his eyes had this odd out of sorts look. Like he was asleep or in disbelief. I didn't know how else to describe it. All I knew then was it was out of place here. Out of place in Midgar. It was wrong.

No, that wasn't it at all. It confirmed what I felt in the pit of my stomach from the day I was born. What I grew up knowing and denying as something amiss with myself. _Midgar_ was wrong. This, what I was watching right then and there, was what was right. That rebellious nature I had thought was wrong within me was the only thing I suddenly realized was right. I wasn't the one out of place, to think that, stunned me.

I almost fell off the roof. Not only about my own small epiphany, but the general of ShinRa's as well it seemed. Their prize with the flower girl? Now that was interesting. At least it was for a while, until I realized he was as much a creature of habit as she was. They really did belong together. Like there was some invisible bond so powerful if you looked away you could swear to see it out the corner of your eye.

I told you I could have been a writer…

All the lovely wording couldn't change that I was still bored. Those two may have been connected out of spontaneity, but they soon had gone into pattern. The same pattern every day, it drove me insane. To her place, to the church. Then the back again. One day I went to Seph's while they were spending exactly two hours, three minutes and twenty six seconds at dinner. Yes it _was_ that bad, just in case you were wondering. While at Seph's I put microphone bugs in his boots.

You see they had been seeing each other for about two months and things were getting- uhm -shall I say heavy? I know some men get off on it, but if I hear a woman screaming a name it had damn well better be mine. This way I could hear them and not have to go where they did. I was paid to follow them, not to be a pervert. So I could chill out with a book and wait till I heard Seph put his boots back on.

Now I was watching the same thing, just the days changed. Damn my fucking luck. I was starting to bring two books with me. Then the last straw was drawn by Seph. The one man I thought would never lose his head was now being a moron.

They left their dinner place one night, going up to the plate hospital as they always did when it rained. An hour was all they could spare with Aerith's stepmother. Then they were _supposed _to go to her house. Seph would stay the night and then he would go home at 5am. Not this time. I choked on my smoke when I heard his request. "Want to stop by my place and have some coffee?" Coffee is what they call it now do they? I was too shocked to be amused. He was taking her to the exact place she should be far, far away from.

When did he become an idiot?!

I was starting to get heat from those bastards, speaking of the ShinRa. If they wanted her they would end up finding her, even if I didn't bring her in myself. Ohh I knew, maybe Seph would just drop her off as an early "evil as sin" father's day gift? Tseng was right, she needed out of here. This wouldn't fly, not at all. I followed them to his place, he told her not to talk, no one would know it was her. It was obvious he was in love with her, his fucking head stopped working. What would Hojo do if he knocked her up? Did he even think about that?

Of course not, he wasn't thinking at all, did I call him an idiot yet?

She needed to get out of Midgar soon, Seph would get them both sent to hell if he didn't watch it. I thought, because they were so in love, that maybe he could talk Aerith into leaving. It would do him good to just run off with her, it would be better then the complete lack of all sense I was seeing then. That night after he dropped her off at home I let him hear me following him.

"Come out. I know you are there." He yelled as if he had discovered someone who wanted to be hidden.

"I know you know I'm here Seph." I replied in my usual cocky tone.

His mako eyes widened, "Reno?"

"Yeah," I sighed then I let in on him, funny, me being the one yelling this time. "What the fuck are you thinking you idiot! Do you even know what could have happened if it had been _anyone_ else following you? You damn moron. How could you even harbor the thought that was an intelligent idea? Idiot!" This was a risk I was taking, talking to him. I was sticking my scarred up neck out to help him. I hoped he realized that.

His mouth hung open, given another situation I would have been amused. I think he was surprised more at my tone then the fact that I had been following him. "It was just for coffee and then-"

"No no no not another word. I don't want to hear about it." I pushed back my coat, unintentionally showing off that I was armed. All I could think was that he was being an idiot. Damn moron. "You could be in _deep_ shit here."

"Not if you don't make it home..." His voice trailed off. I walked around him and him around me. We circled slowly, stiff legged and intense. He wouldn't kill me, I knew it. He knew that I would never kill him. Both of us, under the right conditions could kill the other. I would have to cheat, but when you are alive and the other guy is dead what the hell does cheating matter? Still, the idea of him actually killing me didn't seem too far from his mind. It was far enough though, not to worry me in the slightest.

I laughed, he was threatening me? Holy, that sounded desperate. "If I thought you'd kill me you wouldn't have seen me." He looked angry, frustrated. I like making people look at me that way. So sue me, I was a slum rat, I have a superiority complex. No it wasn't that at all, as I said before, I like pissing Seph off.

"Then what's the point?" Seph ground out, I could tell he wanted his sword. That just amused me more.

I shrugged back to him, "just so you know I know." I stopped moving and so did he. I was armed, Sephiroth was not. "Tseng is who I wanted to talk about."

Seph crossed his strong arms over that broad chest he -and half the female population of the planet- so loves to have bare. "What about him."

I sat down, earning yet another confused look. I idly thought that I should surprise him more often, it is rare that I find things I enjoy as much as making him confused. "He thinks of Aerith as a little sister. I haven't told anyone that she has you as a boyfriend, but you think you can tiptoe around it forever?"

"Then keep your damn mouth shut Reno." Ahhh he reverts back to his ordering me about. Like I ever listened to him more then I had to in the first place.

Again I laughed at him earning his trademark "I will cut you in half" look. No, I am not stupid, death wish? Maybe. But Seph would have a damn hard time killing me. It wouldn't be worth it. He was stooping to swearing? The girl must really mean something to him "Such language? From the great general of ShinRa?" I couldn't keep the sneer from my voice at the word. ShinRa leaves a foul taste on the tongue

"I am tired and frustrated. You are taking your life in your hands." Then his eyebrow arched, he shifted. Only someone trained to see it would notice.

"Three months" I answered his unspoken question.

Again he seemed disgruntled. "Truly?" He asked at last.

Poor guy, always the straight forward type, and here he had to deal with a Turk. We are known for looking at the front door, then creating an elaborate pulley system to get in through the roof. I nodded.

"How much have you seen?" His eyes narrowed at me again, this time with a much harder edge, a life that before the man had never had.

If it weren't for the death wish I would have been afraid. "I don't need to see it all Seph, don't worry about it."

He seemed to settle, but he didn't trust me, that was fine by me. He also probably wanted to stab me, also fine by me. I wasn't engineered to die easy. "Again I ask you what the _point_ is?" He had such a cultured voice, deep tones, yeah I would have rated that a 8.5 on the authoritative meter. Too bad I only respond well to the 10.0. Not well really but I kinda smile and nod when the meter gets that high.

I thought about that for a few moments. "I hate to sneak around on associates. I just wanted to let you know they may catch on, I can't be assigned to follow her forever."

He flopped down next to me, some mix of depression and defiance on his face. He looked at his shoes and then back to me. His tone had totally changed. "Reno?"

I nodded at him and lit a cigarette. I didn't bother to offer one to Seph, Hojo had strict rules about his "works" never smoking. Seph was a good specimen and did as he was told. I, however, made it a point to smoke a pack a day to spite the sick prick

"You always follow her?"

I nodded again

"You wouldn't let anything happen to her? If I am not there?"

It was my turn to be shocked. The freshly lit cigg fell from my mouth, I picked it up and blinked at him. This was a man that had hand trained me. He had no endearment to anyone that I knew of. And here he was risking his neck and asking me to risk my own for a woman? "I do what I am told." Something inside me moved yet again, I was almost happy that he trusted me enough to ask me that. With a final hard drag I killed the cigarette. Smashing it into the ground, I attempted to squash that damn feeling of "I should be doing something else".

"Don't pull that with me, Reno. You try to do the opposite of what you are told as often as humanly possible."

A snort was his answer. I stood up and bushed off my navy blue suit. He also stood. We looked at each other for a while, he was still thinking about killing me. I still didn't care if he did. At the same time we turned and walked away, I to my apartment and Seph to his. 'Be careful' I thought, knowing he would laugh if he could hear me.

Then I felt him turn around, we looked at each other again. He nodded to me and went down the alley. "Hmpf" I snorted to myself. Maybe he felt it too, that things were changing. I could almost hear a "you too" in his look.

That night I was writing my bullshit report while giving Tseng the real one. I rolled my eyes at the Wutain. He was very overprotective. "Se, for the final time, yes, she has a boyfriend. No, he really seems to care about her. Yes, I know who he is and no, I am not telling you."

"Dam-en-it Dreno!" He shook his head, his accent slipped. It was funny as hell whenever he did that, because then he got madder. I loved it. Him, the well spoken businessman- unable to hold that tone and sounding like a wall market fisherman. Slower this time, "Reno that is a direct order!"

"I can't Se."

He glared at me, sharp Wutain features drawn tight on his face. The man needed to lighten up. I did take my job very seriously, just in case you were wondering. However, if I didn't find some humor I would have killed myself long before this moment in time.

I sighed, "look, why don't you follow me tonight if you are so worried?"

He blinked, surprise graced his features for just a moment. Then it was gone like smoke on the wind. He snagged one of my cigarettes off my desk and lit it without so much as a thank you. "See you tonight then." And he was gone.

"Arigato to you as well there Se." I shuffled my bogus papers and went to get a few hours of sleep.

At almost 2am Tseng and I were waiting. Seph came out as always but this time looked over to the rooftop that I had been on last night. It was the wrong rooftop for now. As much as Sephiroth is a creature of habit I am one of spontaneity. Tseng's mouth dropped open. "I thought you said he cared?" He mouthed to me.

"I talked to him, he does." I mouthed back. With that Tseng up and left, yet another of my smokes in his mouth. I made a mental note to steal my next pack from him. I continued to watch them, at least until he walked her home. Then I would go home and try to wash that feeling I still had away. It only grew. Something was going to happen, I wasn't going to be able to do this much longer.


	5. Tseng: Why Me?

_Tseng: Why Me?

* * *

_

"Arigato to you as well there, Se."

I wasn't sure whether Reno meant for me to hear that remark or not; I didn't deem it worthy of a response. Sometimes I swear he goes out of his way to aggravate me to the point where my temper flares. Always and inevitably at that point my chokehold on my accent will slip, and he'll guffaw himself silly.

Prick.

His refusal to tell my about Aerith's new love interest pissed me off, yes; I don't think he really realized the depth of my affection for the girl. Not that I wanted him to. Kind of ruined my hard as nails appearance. But I digress. Reno's offer to let me accompany him during his nightly surveillance took me by surprise, but no way in hell I was going to pass it up. And because I like having the last word, I made sure to snag one of his cigarettes without saying thank you.

I knew he'd come after one of my own packs later. Maybe I'd add a mild poison to their filters.

----

Some may have questioned my decision to assign Reno to watch over Aeris. As irritating as he was and as irresponsible as he may have seemed, Reno possessed a level of level of dedication that rivalled my own. When it came to adhering to company guidelines and doing things "by the book", Reno was a stickler. He'd had the fear of disobedience instilled in him by the worst ShinRa had to offer, and it was that fear that made him so reliable.

I realized there was a reason he had asked me to join him during his surveillance; he wanted me to see something, something he couldn't – or wouldn't- tell me himself. This refusal caused some mild concern on my behalf; what surprise awaited me? Questions aside, I really did want to know if Aeris was okay. I didn't get to check in on her as much as I would have liked to.

Why was I, the leader of the Turks, so overprotective of a mere flower girl? Good question; I have yet to figure it out in its entirety. Perhaps it was finding such a beautiful baby lying next to her dead mother; Ifalna had escaped the lab a few days before, but the damage had been too great. Hojo wanted the baby, and I, being the subservient idiot I was, was in charge of bringing her back. The moment I picked her up she gurgled, curled one of those little chubby fingers around my hair, and bestowed upon me a smile brighter than the sun. And in that moment I realized I couldn't subject her to the life of a lab rat; I had to give her something better. There was a woman in the Sector Five slums named Elmyra; I knew through reputation that she was a kind and lonely woman. So in the middle of the night I knocked on her door and presented to her baby Aeris, the last of her kind. I think it was love at first sight, because Elmyra had looked at me with tears in her eyes and whispered a heartfelt "Thank you."

And so I'd managed to keep Aeris from a life I was certain would destroy her, and while growing up in the slums wasn't an ideal lifestyle, it was better than what ShinRa could offer. I kept as close watch over her while she grew up as my job would allow. This was why news of an impending boyfriend concerned me, but I allowed myself the small comfort in knowing that if he was an asshole, I had the means to ensure he could _mysteriously _disappear…

And then I went on surveillance with Reno. And witnessed with my own two eyes the passion and affection that seemed mutual between her and ShinRa's legendary figurehead: the great General Sephiroth.

----

It took a while for the knowledge to sink in, but when it did, I was more than worried. And so I took it upon myself one afternoon to pay the General a visit. He didn't look surprised to see me; then again, he never looks surprised. That man is the definition of stoic. It's a little unnerving sometimes, but I delivered my speech and the veiled threats that lay beneath it. I think I saw a glimmer of understanding in his eyes, because when I finished he didn't rip me a new one. Instead, he told me in a steady and determined voice that he wanted to take care of Aeris, even at the cost of leaving both ShinRa and Midgar behind. I was taken aback; apparently this was no fleeting fancy on his behalf for a pretty girl he met on the street. I told him sincerely that I hoped it didn't come to that; the look on his face told me he believed it was only a matter of time.

I was still sort of steamed about the fact that he brought Aeris to his room. There are a million other places to go, but _no_ – let's parade the fact that he's dating Most Wanted Lab Specimen # 1 into the ShinRa building. And Reno! What the fuck was he thinking, allowing them to do that? I can't for the life of me believe no one saw them, and I can't shake this ominous feeling that someone knows. And if that's the case ….

I tried to get a hold of Reno after the day Seph and I had our chat. He never answered his phone. Where the fuck is that red headed menace when you need him?

And I couldn't help but wonder if his disappearance had something to do with our resident psychotic doctor. My ominous feeling spiralled into something much more anxious and dark.

Welcome to ShinRa. We own your soul.

* * *

_A/N: Heartfelt love and thanks go to Lindz for starting this chapter. It has been added to and reworked by Sol, who was wonderful enough to be willing to give us her time. _

_And while we are thanking people, thank you for reading and enjoying us letting loose a bit. _


	6. Sephiroth: An Act of Towering Stupidity

_Sephiroth: An Act of Towering Stupidity

* * *

_

_How dare that boy speak to me like that?_ I thought, striding angrily home. _Reno, of all people?_

I stepped into the elevator for the second time that night and made myself calm down. Could I really blame him? Turks were Tseng's domain, and I knew that he worried about Aerith, despite his orders from the President and Hojo. It made sense that he had someone watching her. Why it took so long for Reno to reveal his presence, I had no idea, but I was on edge after the meeting.

I was still having a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that Reno had been following us this whole time. Three months—why, Aerith and I had only known each other for just over that. To realize that he had been nearby during even our most private moments, especially the times when I felt secure in the knowledge that we were well-hidden…it was unnerving.

Worse, it finally hit me—now, after the fact—that it had been an act of towering stupidity on my part to even think of inviting her up to my apartment. I cursed myself the entire way home that night. How could I have thought to bring her there? What had I been thinking? What if Hojo had found out? What if we had made some kind of noise, some indication for the always-listening ears of ShinRa to pounce upon? What if someone figured out who and what she was and traced her location by tracking me? Gods, what if I was the reason ShinRa caught her in the end?

My hands were shaking by the time I got back to my room. I had to take a shower to calm down. It was so tempting to go back out there, to make sure she was safe, but I wouldn't make the same mistake twice in one night. Reno was watching her; that should be enough.

If Reno knew, that meant Tseng knew. Reno might claim that he'd keep quiet, but Se had ways of finding out things like this. It wasn't very reassuring to know the Turks were involved.

On second thought, maybe it was, knowing Reno as I did.

* * *

Ahh, Reno. He was the bane of my existence for so long that I wonder how many of my silver hairs were actually grey after dealing with him.

ShinRa sent all of its "problem children" to me for training after the war in Wutai was over. I got about thirty of them in all, street punks and workhouse rejects who didn't fit in with the rigid hierarchy of SOLDIER. Reno was with the first batch. He was sixteen years old and already an ex-convict. Tseng had seen something in him, though, and I was willing to try to make him behave.

The trouble was, it's very difficult to make someone behave when they follow your orders to the exact letter, no more, no less. Tell the boy not to move, he freezes and literally doesn't move until given another order. Say, "I don't want to hear another word" and he silently mouths swears, all the while with the most innocent expression upon his face. It was like dealing with a four-year-old little brother.

It might not have been so bad, but Reno was so much brighter than any of the others that it almost hurt to train him. He knew exactly what he was doing. So did I: he was pushing the edge of the envelope, one little nudge at a time, to see how far he could stretch the rules before someone came down on him.

I used to ask him why he didn't just settle down and behave, only to receive a look of disdain in return. He didn't want to be there, not that I blamed him, but he made things worse by never accepting that he was there. At the time, it didn't make sense to me. I had always obeyed my orders whether I liked them or not. Even then, a part of me envied him for his independence.

He saw through ShinRa just as I had, as Tseng and Zax did. It was so rare to find someone like him. Take my fellow officers, for example. Listening to them was almost pitiful sometimes. They would get starry-eyed, talking about fighting for glory and honor, for the preservation of ShinRa.

Right. Preservation of the glory and honor of a gods-damned power company. We fought for a corrupt business that wanted to own the world, let's not mince words. I knew Reno understood this, and yet I couldn't ever break through his shell enough to become his friend. I used to wish we had met under different circumstances. I preferred Reno's intelligent backtalk to the spineless drivel that the other officers spouted.

So maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that he had been assigned to watch Aerith. Fully aware that it made me sound like a wayward teenager, I hoped he would be as good as his word, and wouldn't tell anyone what he'd seen.

I really didn't want Tseng to find out.

Over the years, I had managed to keep contact with Tseng. On one hand, this was a good thing; real friends in ShinRa were few and far between. On the other hand…he would have killed me if he'd known I was visiting Aerith. He'd kill me twice if he knew just how our relationship had turned out. He thought of himself as a kind of older brother for her, and he remembered what I'd been like in our early training days. I might be different now that I'd had time to grow up, and she was nothing like the girls I'd spent my time with back then, but the fact remained that Tseng could be a difficult obstacle to overcome.

* * *

I was more careful the next night, meeting her at the train station and then going to her church. It was more private than going to the hospital, less conspicuous than going to her house. I was aware that Reno was out there, someplace, so I kept my visit shorter than usual. It was hell to leave her.

The following morning, I woke to a pillow that still smelled like Aerith, even after an entire day and night. It made me feel good, refreshed, exhilarated. Even the fear that Hojo would find her didn't seem so ominous in the clear light of day. I was the strongest man in ShinRa, physically and politically. I could protect her myself.

The morning went as usual: running two laps around the ShinRa Tower, an hour or so of katas back in my apartment, a breakfast of ShinRa Mako Flakes with a mug of coffee while I caught up with the news. I hummed a tune—I! Hummed!—on my way to my 50th floor office. I could have had a higher floor, but I wanted to be as far from Hojo as possible, so I settled for a smaller room on the lowest floor in the SOLDIER section of the building. People sent funny looks my way as I passed them. I didn't care. All I could think about was her smile, the way her lips tasted…Turks and scientists were far from my thoughts.

Passing my secretary with a grin, I picked up the packet of mail and swept into my office to read it. Jared was used to my new attitude by now, so it didn't faze him at all. He simply smirked at the expressions of the SOLDIER NCOs who waited for their appointments with me and got me another mug of coffee.

Her hair…gods, that mouth…those hands…

Thankfully, the appointments went quickly, and I settled into the routine of my day. I heard Jared leave for lunch, which meant I was alone at last. I stretched and went to the window, gazing out at the city. She was out there, somewhere, selling her flowers. I had plans to meet her again tonight; we would have to be extra-careful from now on. I began thinking of alternative routes to take, different places to meet her. Grinning to myself, I turned back to my desk and stopped.

Tseng leaned in my doorway, arms crossed. "Seph."

"Se." Something was up. He hadn't come to my office, unannounced, in probably six months. Strange he should choose today, not even two days after I had my little 'talk' with Reno. "What can I do for you?"

"I thought I'd see if my old friend wanted to get some lunch, that's all." He held up the keys to his Jaguar. "Chez Rofe. I'm buying."

Of course. The one place in Midgar we knew we could talk without ShinRa's ears listening in on every word. "Sure, Se, let me get my coat."

The drive there was strained. I pretended nothing was amiss, though I was quite aware he wanted to yell at me. Chances were the car was bugged, too. Finally, we reached the restaurant and got our usual table. Once the waiter left with our drink orders, Tseng leaned in my direction, pretending to look over the menu.

"What the hell are you playing at?" he hissed, the calm façade broken. "Are you trying to get her killed?"

He always did get straight to the point. Funny, considering that he led the Turks, a group not known for their directness. "Of course not." I kept my voice even as my eyes scanned the list of entrées.

"Den what were you doing wit—" He took a deep breath and proceeded more evenly. His accent always came through when he was agitated. "Then what were you doing at that church with her last night?"

That surprised me into glancing at him. "You saw that?" I growled. "I'm going to kill Reno."

Tseng waved a hand dismissively and sat back. Still speaking in a low tone, he said, "He's not involved. He wouldn't tell me who she was seeing, so I trailed him myself. You had better not be using her—"

The waiter came with our drinks and took our order before I could reply. When he was gone, I whispered, "Gods, Se, think about it! You know me better than anyone else. You think I would hurt a girl? Especially one like her?"

"I know you, Seph. That's why I'm worried." He crossed his arms. "I seem to remember that you were the guy who went out with a different girl every week."

"Oh, for the gods' sake. You know that wasn't my choice! ShinRa kept pairing me with them!"

He snorted. "Like you objected. I'm sure they forced you to take half of those girls to bed. But they're not in question here. I'm worried about Aerith."

"Aerith is safe with me, Se, so don't bother with the big-brother lecture. Whatever I've done is done. I am not going to stop seeing her. Hells, I don't think I could stop if I tried." I just sat and looked at the plate with my meal, suddenly no longer hungry. Neither of us spoke for a while, neither of us touched our food.

He glared at me. I could feel his tension, his fear. He really was worried. Finally he made an exasperated noise and picked up his fork. "Nothing I say is going to stop you, fine. But if she gets hurt because of your carelessness…"

I'll kill you, was the rest of that sentence, the part he didn't say. "Se, I promise. I will never allow Hojo near her. I want her to be safe, too."

We both wanted the same thing: Aerith's safety. I hadn't lied to her; I had never cared about anyone before. Any women who'd accompanied me to bed did so with the understanding that it meant nothing come daylight. None of them had ever taken hold of my thoughts the way she did. None of them had made me feel like I would wither and die if I stayed away for too long.

We drove back to the Tower without speaking, walking from the car to the elevator. Moments ticked by as we ascended, his hard, measuring stare trained upon me. I met his eyes without fear. Perhaps Tseng read my thoughts. Perhaps he believed, finally, that I wanted just as much as he did to protect her from the very company that sent me to find her. Whatever it was, at last he looked away. "Very well," he said, as if we had been speaking the whole time.

The doors opened to the 50th floor. His office was up on the 63rd—the Turks weren't so lucky as I in their choice of location. I stepped out and nodded at him. "Trust me, Se."

I heard him sigh as I turned away.

Besides, I thought, walking to my office to finish out my day, Reno was with her when I wasn't. He had promised to keep an eye on her when I couldn't.

I felt much better. Already, my mind was half on where I would take her that evening. Tseng had nothing to worry about.


	7. Reno: Making Promises, For Unknown Reaso...

_Reno: Making Promises, For Unknown Reasons

* * *

_

So Seph and Se were out to lunch. That was fine, maybe they could come to agreement. Hells, maybe Se could do what I didn't think I could, get Seph to defect. The man needed out of ShinRa more then the rest of us. It was sad watching him get led around by men he could break in half. That image, Seph breaking President ShinRa in half, made me smile as I settled down to rest on my desk.

Desks are actually very comfortable things to sleep on. I said it before I will say it again, I would have made a great college student. In the middle of my dreams of Hojo in a blender and ShinRa rotting away like an old sandwich, I thought a bug bit me. Then I went totally out, had I had the ability to form thoughts, one word would have sufficed: "shit."

I was, before Hojo got a hold of me, pretty easy to knock out. Sleeping drugs would take effect immediately. However, for the eight months I was with the "good doctor", I would fight every moment I wasn't sedated. You build up quite a tolerance that way. I suppose, in some twisted way, that I should have thanked him then. I don't want to consider what would happen to me otherwise.

It was cold, my mouth felt dry, I was laying flat on my back with a cloudy head. "Turk model 341279" A voice said, blowing the clouds away from my head and chilling me to the bone. It was a scientist's voice, cold, hard, and fucking creepy. Enough to scare the piss out of better men then me let me tell you that. Death wish yes, torture wish? No. I didn't want to be there.

I kept my eyes closed and tired to think. I was in the labs that was obvious. Had they figured out I was hiding their Ancient? Had they just felt I was taking too long? Was Hojo just that bored? I never, to this day, figured out why I was there. Honestly, I couldn't care less, I was there, meaning the shit had hit the fan.

There were light whimpering noises coming from the side of me. The sounds muffled by triple thick reinforced glass tubes. It was becoming clear to me, what was going on. I was on the table for a purpose. Even if it is bad scientific practice to do separate experiments in the same room, Hojo did it all the time. The reasoning for this is that if new specimens see what happens to other specimens they behave better.

I felt a pin prick in my arm, a Mako needle. I felt them leave the IV like tube in my arm as they pulled out the needle. It took all my own self control not to give into the full body shudder I badly wanted to have. Phobias aren't fun, needles always have creeped me out. Them and clowns, but that's another story.

"Get ready to secure it on the table, Hojo wants to get started right away." Another voice said. So there were two of them. Twisting my wrist slowly I could have laughed. Indeed, I was yet to be tied down to the table, meaning I could fight back, meaning that these two yahoos were dead, they just didn't know it quite yet. The second voice noticed my movement, but by then, it was far too late.

Sitting up I gripped one alert one by the wrist, spinning him around before pitching him over my body to the doctor on my other side. All it took was a roll of the table, I'm not a heavy guy, but laws of motion are fabulous things. That and I didn't even have to look around the room for the other doctor. They stood in the exact same places for every thing. It was as if there were circles on the floor. I love people of habits. They are easier to kill.

We stared at each other for a fraction of moments, my chest heaving. I will admit it, I was scared. My left arm was aching and hard to bend, the Mako tube would have to come out, but I didn't really need both arms to take out two scientists. It took me half a second to get to the "experimental tools" read that as: "sharp fucking objects used to impale living things".

It took me less then that to level a scalpel and pitch it into the throat of one of the doctors. The other stared at his falling body, eyes wide then turned to run, forgetting to hit the alarm button. No way in hell he was leaving there alive. None. I raced the long way around the holding tubes, cutting the man off before he reached the door. Before he could turn around again, my foot was at his kneecap. He made no attempt to rise, just stayed face down and shaking in fear. I was in no mood to show pity. My boot came up then down, the steel lined heel smashed the back of the man's neck. Flipping the body over, I searched for his key card, I would need that to get out of the labs. Then another whimper caught my attention.

I took a deep breath and looked over my shoulder again. My suspicions on why I was in this gods forsaken place were confirmed. It was to intimidate new specimens. And of course, there she was, Seph's flower girl, cowering at the bottom of her tube. It was as if there wasn't triple thick glass separating us, she was terrified. I don't blame her for being scared of me, but knowing she was almost bothered me. There was a cat in the other tube, he looked less frightened, but still shaken. So this was the animal that Rude caught outside of Cosmo. The one that he claimed could talk.

Rude wasn't prone to exaggerations.... hell he wasn't prone to talking, so I believed him.

I doubted that Aerith would speak to me even if she was able to at this point. "When's Hojo getting here?" I asked the beast directly, trying to keep my own voice level. Just in case you were wondering the psycho freak had a vendetta against me- the whole not begging thing. Vendettas and psychotics do not mix well at all, the last thing I wanted was Hojo in the room.

The cat didn't answer. I was getting more frightened as the time kept ticking. Why the hell I didn't run my ass away from Midgar right then and there? I looked back over at Aerith and remembered Seph actually trusting me with her care. Promises or not, Hojo would break me if given the time, I wasn't about to just sit down and wait for him. Rounding on the cat again I gruffly snapped at him. "Look damnit I know you talk! You want me to leave your ass here?"

The animal seemed affronted at my language and I didn't care. He did at least speak, in the same intelligent voice Rude claimed he had. The big guy did feel horrible, for everything. He had no choice in the matter, but he did advise the animal to watch it's mouth. Rude would have been happy to know the beast listened. "He will return in about an hour. You are not supposed to be awake until then."

_That_ officially pissed me off. There is a difference between experiments and being a sick bastard. Hojo got off on pain, on people screaming. He loved to hear his specimens beg. I was a challenge to him. I was the one to break, all my superiors knew it. They talked about it, as if I didn't hear. I just pretended not to care. Hell I guess it gave Hojo something to shoot for in life. We all need goals right?

I walked over to the second scientist and swiped his key card as well, it was right where it should have been, front right pocket of the lab coat. People are so predictable sometimes I think I am physic. The needle in my arm burned, but I would need tweezers to remove it. I had no other choice but to ignore it. Without another word to the cat or to the flower girl, I picked up one body and dragged it to a closet. Then I drug the second one, scalpel still in his neck, to lay on his buddy.

Ignoring the groans from the other two, I opened the closet and stuffed the scientists' bodies in it. Not a very clean task what with blood all over them both. I had to use my shoulder to throw the door closed, there was some snapping inside. Bone would be my guess. Once again Seph's girl gasped, she looked faint.

The cat started pacing. "You said you would get us out?"

_SHIT I did say that didn't I?_ In a round about way I had made a promise, I may have been a killer, but I was one of principle. I couldn't leave them now. I would already be on the run from ShinRa. No harm making them madder now was there? "I will be back." I sighed, damning myself for actually saying that. I used the key cards to get to the lowest levels of the building, living quarters. Seph had a date tonight he would be home. I was no hero, but he should have been one.

He was the only person I could go to. If I went to Rude or to Se they would run with me, without a doubt. However, leaving with the Turks meant that the Turks wouldn't be following me. If not them then it would be someone who really wanted me dead. No, I couldn't drag them into this without any due notice. I knew Seph would be in the moment I let Aerith's name leave my mouth. So I unlocked his door, knowing damn well he wouldn't be happy about it.

Just as I had expected Seph was not happy. I got about three inches in the door then his sword was at my throat. Turks are always prepared or they are dead, I was prepared and placed my hand over Seph's wrist stalling the blade and getting his full attention.

"What the HELL?" He snarled in a barely audible tone.

After kicking his door shut, I mouthed for him to "shut the fuck up". Then at the same time, as one person. His sword still at my throat, me still covered in fucking sticky ass blood, we walked to the bathroom. Just in case you were wondering, that would be the one room in a house that doesn't get bugged. For various reasons, none of which matter at this point in the story. Does the guy even offer me a damn towel? No. Does he even look concerned for me? Hell no. Damnit, it would be nice if _someone_ would think about my well being for once in my damn life.

He blinked as I slammed the door shut to his bathroom. Before he got his mouth open I started ranting in a low tone. "First off I came here because if I got Se and Rude involved then they would send a bastard like _you_ after me." I really didn't think of Seph that way, but damnit I was pissed off and scared beyond all reason. I had no idea what I was doing, promising a rescue without so much as a half hour to plan it. It was all I could do not to sound as frantic as I felt. I hoped that he would get the picture.

He just glared, not understanding me in the slightest. I mean, yes, this was most likely the last thing he expected to happen, ever. Me coming to him for help, and me in this state. Slowly, he lowered his sword, I supposed it was a start.

I went in his bathroom cabinet and pulled out tweezers. The whole while Seph watched me like I was some alien life form. After removing the long needle from my arm I held it in front of his face. I hoped that seeing it he would put two and two together. "She it there too." With that I threw the damned needle into his waste bin and waited to see what he would want to do.

He was supposed to be the hero, he was supposed to go off and save them. I, well, I didn't even know what I was going to do. Suddenly, despite my fear, the blood that dripped to his floor, and the needle in Seph's waste bin, I felt right. Like all at once, for the first time ever, something was going the way it was supposed to. All my life, flashed in my mind then, all this time, I had been right.

Aerith was the key to something really huge. That meant that Seph was in as well. I didn't know if I wanted to be a part of it. I again admit that I was scared. I wasn't going to have this feeling and then be tied to a lab table for god knows how long. I was afraid. I was going to do what I knew was right for the first time in my life, but I couldn't do it alone. If anyone could help me get away with this, it would be Seph.


	8. Sephiroth: Son of a Bitch Must Pay

_Sephiroth: Son of a Bitch Must Pay

* * *

_

It took a moment for his words to sink in.

_She's there._

Aerith.

Hojo had her.

A thousand questions went through my mind. Where had Reno been? Why hadn't I been told earlier? How long had she been there? I wanted to put my hands around the boy's throat and squeeze the answers from him…but then I noticed his pallor, the needle in my wastebasket, and realized he'd been taken in, too.

Without a word, I opened the linen closet and grabbed a pair of towels, then thrust them at him. His eyes went round in confusion. As I turned away to go to my room, I snapped, "Clean yourself up. You have five minutes."

I heard him swear behind me as the door shut. He caught it just before it could slam, mindful of the noise he made, and it clicked softly into place. Almost immediately, I heard water running in the sink. Excellent. He looked like hell; the Mako probably hadn't helped him feel any better.

But we couldn't afford to waste any more time. I headed for my bedroom, where I had already laid out my clothes for the evening. I had just gotten out of the shower myself when Reno broke into my apartment. Though at first I was furious, upon reflection I was grateful. If he had been fifteen minutes later, I would have been gone. Aerith would have had to endure exactly what I'd been trying to protect her from all this time. Hojo would have—

No, I won't even let my thoughts go there. It's bad enough to tell this now.

Reno opened the bathroom door just as I finished dressing. He appeared to feel a little better, his arm properly bandaged, though he still had the haunted look of someone who had narrowly escaped torture. Of course, that's exactly what had happened. I didn't have the luxury of worrying about him at the moment, however. Aerith needed to be saved, and I had no intention of letting her down.

It was too bad everything had to be rushed; I would have liked to have a few more moments to plan. What I decided to do in the end was a bit more spectacular than I normally came up with. I donned my armor as I thought. When I picked up Masamune, it was with no little regret. This should have been a peaceful evening with Aerith, no weapons, no ShinRa. Instead, I found my hand being forced at last. As it was, I couldn't believe I was even contemplating this kind of rescue.

"Reno," I said, not looking at him as I fastened my gloves. I could hear him jump. He was still on edge; Hojo had a way of doing that to a man. I knew, I _knew_ what he did to me, I saw right through his manipulation and his threats, and yet I still could never break free. I let him bully me all my life, and probably would have let him forever, but now…now Aerith was involved. I couldn't forgive Hojo for that.

"Yeah?" He replied, somehow finding strength. I give him points for keeping his voice calm. Reno wasn't a bad kid, he just had problems with authority. I prayed to whatever gods would listen that he'd follow my orders this time.

"We are going to get her out. It will be easy to break her out of the lab, but the hard part is getting her out of the building. That's where you come in. Is the helicopter still here?"

"Yeah, I brought it back after the last job." His eyes went round. "Fuckin' no fucking way."

I nodded. "It's our only way out of here. You will fly it."

We both knew that once that helicopter left the landing pad, we would no longer be considered welcome in Midgar. That was fine with me; I hated this place anyway, and I'd been trying to think up ways to get Aerith out of the city. But what would Reno think? What would he do?

He stared at me while I snapped the last of my armor in place and fastened the belt around my coat. I caught a glimpse of my face in the mirror as I grabbed a pack and began filling it with supplies. No wonder he still looked white; I didn't recognize myself. My eyes met his in the reflection. He was afraid, which made me glad. If he wasn't, I'd either worry that he would get himself killed for his overconfidence or suspect a trap. "Well?" I prompted.

His eyes hardened and his mouth became a thin line. "Sure," he muttered. "I just fly the damn thing."

Right answer.

I finished packing and went to the door of my apartment without another glance backward. "Then let's go."

We made it up to the floor beneath the lab without meeting any resistance. Of course there wouldn't be any; no one probably knew that Reno had escaped, and my involvement with Aerith was probably not common knowledge. I told him my plan as we ran: we would stay together until we reached the lab, and then we'd separate. I would get Aerith and go up the back way to the top of the Tower, while he would go on and get the chopper ready. I put a lot of faith in him. Too much was riding on this for either of us to fail.

The doors to the lab were just ahead when the first alarms sounded. Perplexed, we actually stopped and looked at each other. Had his disappearance warranted such an alert? Then the announcement came:

"_Attention! Intruders on the 69th floor! All available personnel, please respond!"_

So ShinRa had bigger problems at the moment. Silently, I thanked whoever had the balls to break into the Tower, and blessed them for their perfect timing. I wondered briefly if anyone was trying to reach me at that moment. "Can you get past them?" I asked, already heading for the doors.

"Do I have a choice?" he shot back. When I spared one last glance for him, he was running for the stairs to the next level. I wished him well, then entered the lab. The specimen holding cells were in the next room, but this was where Hojo did his planning and research. I wouldn't have cared what the computers said, except one screen caught my eye with the word, "Cetra". I had to look.

It never ceases to amaze me, the things that man was capable of dreaming up. I found myself looking at an experiment outline, in which he was going to try to create a "perfect specimen"…one with Cetra qualities, yet who would live for a very long time. A breeding program, for two very different species, both of which were extremely rare.

Aerith and a beast?

This was too much. Hojo had gone too far. I might have let him live; I might have run away and forgotten all about him, but he signed his own execution orders the moment he touched Aerith. My anger got the better of me. With a snarl, I smashed the monitor with a fist, toppling it to the floor, and ran to the next area.

He was there, in Aerith's holding cell. I arrived in time to see him backhand her across the face, demanding to know what had happened. The bloody bodies piling out of the supply closet were just a nuisance. I saw Aerith scramble back, her bottom lip split and bleeding. She looked frightened and defiant, kicking her legs out to keep him from getting any closer to her. The red beast in the next cell yowled, adding to the confusion.

I shouted something—knowing my state of mind, it was probably a war cry—and drew my sword. Not even the triplethick glass of Hojo's cells could stand up to my strength and Masamune's bite. The blade sheared through the glass wall and just missed taking Hojo's head off. More's the pity.

He bolted out the shattered far wall, self-preservation stronger in him than the desire to keep his specimen. It's the only thing that kept him alive then, for my first priority was Aerith. She clambered to her feet and fell into my arms. As I comforted her, I looked up to see Hojo glance back at us just before he disappeared out the door of the lab. A silent promise passed between us then: the next time we met, only one would walk away alive.

"I knew you'd come, Seph," Aerith cried, burying her face against my chest. "Gods, Seph, it's really you."

I held her tightly for a heartbeat more. I would have stayed like that with her forever, but we had no time. "Rith, come on, we need to go. Can you walk?"

She nodded, but swayed when I tried to step away. Her eyes were unfocused. He had probably drugged her to keep her from fighting him. Gods, but I hated him. "I—I don't feel so good…"

I caught her, cursing Hojo and ShinRa, and picked her up. "I'll carry you. It's okay," I soothed, "I'm not going to leave you behind." I stepped out of the cell and went to the exit that led to the back stairs. They led only to the President's office, for Hojo to communicate with him and to show off his latest experiments.

"Erm, excuse me, but would you be so kind as to free me, as well?"

The voice was cultured, elegant, with a clipped accent. I looked about for the source, to find the beast in the other cell regarding me with one green eye. "Pardon?"

I'd never seen an animal with a facial expression before, but he certainly had one. He looked worried. "You see, I'm not exactly here of my own accord. I'd like to go with you, if it's not too much trouble." He stood, and placed a paw on the wall. "I figured out how the control panel works, but…well, it's kind of difficult to operate it from within."

I almost refused. This was the creature that Hojo wanted to—to—

"Seph," I heard Aerith say faintly, "He's a friend. He didn't want to be here, either." She struggled to focus. "He wouldn't have—" she shuddered, and the beast did, too.

It was enough. I hit the buttons to open the door, and the animal gracefully leapt out. "Thank you, sir. Aerith, are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Red."

He looked relieved. I would have liked to continue the conversation, but we had places to be. "Come on, we're going up this way. We need to get to the roof."

"_Announcement," _the PA system came to life again,_ "Will all silver-haired rescuers please proceed to the helipad on the 70th floor? Please avoid incompetent SOLDIERS and intruders on the main stairs if at all possible. Thank you very much and have a nice fucking ShinRa day!"_

"Reno," I said wearily in response to Red's nonplussed expression.

"Right." He gave a sharp nod and followed at my heels. The passage was narrow, but we were able to bypass the rest of the 69th floor. With any luck, the intruders were after something else. Just ahead, at the top of the stairs, we could see the end of the passage. It was the back of one of the bookcases in President Shinra's office. An explosion shook the tower from somewhere beneath us. SOLDIERS must have finally reached the lab, for we heard shouting and fighting. I prayed that the other intruders would keep them busy until we had a chance to escape.

The bookcase slid aside to reveal the President's office. Aerith gasped in horror at the sight.

The President's corpse sat in his chair. The apparent cause of death was, to my best guess, the electromag rod protruding from between his third and fourth ribs. Reno spun about, startled, then his usual cocky grin spread across his face. "Hiya." He brandished the late President's cigarette case. "I got the keys to the chopper."

Red growled suspiciously, but waited to see what I would do. I liked the beast already. Aerith, however, had gone paler than ever and stared at the horrible scene. Would it have killed Reno to look a little less pleased with himself while surrounded by carnage? Regardless of how satisfying it was to see the fat bastard gutted with a glorified cattle prod, I thought Aerith would pass out.

I glanced at the dead man. "Very good," I said slowly. "Ah, Reno, that wouldn't be your electromag rod embedded in the President's chest, now, would it?"

He feigned shock. "Why, so it is! Geez, and I've been looking for this thing everywhere, I swear!" He grinned and yanked it out with a malicious twist. It made a disgusting crunch, eliciting another gasp from Aerith. "Silly me, I'm so forgetful."

I was not amused. Granted, I hated President Shinra almost as much as I hated Hojo, but we needed to get moving. I started toward the door to the helipad. "You killed the President," I remarked as he joined me.

"Aww, come on! Just 'cause it's my mag rod, everyone points fingers at me…" he griped under his breath as we ran outside. Red jumped up and helped me bundle Aerith into a seat. While I made sure she was buckled in securely, Reno got the engine started. The blades picked up speed. It looked like we were going to get away without a problem.

Three shots hit the body of the helicopter. Aerith and Red both jumped; neither of them were used to being in the middle of a firefight. I looked toward the source of the shots.

Tseng stood in the doorway we'd just come through, grimacing. Reno and I saw him lower his standard-issue Death Penalty. Beside him, Rude held back a furious-looking Rufus ShinRa. Rufus shouted something, but Tseng shook his head and pointed at us. Reno grinned even more widely and waved, flipping them off.

Tseng, who did not look amused, raised his gun once more and fired a single shot. Bless my Wutaian friend; he aimed perfectly through an open window panel. Without hitting the windshield—something that would hinder our progress immensely—he made sure the bullet would speed harmlessly past Reno to embed itself in the far wall. The redheaded Turk cursed and rubbed his ear. He'd probably felt the heat from that one. Without any further hesitation, he turned the nose of the copter away from Shinra and got us out of there.

I looked back to see Red licking Aerith's hand worriedly. She was still pale, but she managed a soft smile for me. "We're going to be all right," I said, reaching back to take her other hand. "We got away from ShinRa."

Relief filled her eyes. "Thank you. I thought…I wondered if I'd ever see you again."

I wanted to go back to her. Her grip on my hand told of how frightened she truly was, though her face did a good job of hiding much of it. Instead, I said, "Rest, Aerith. We have a long trip ahead of us."

She nodded and relaxed a little, closing her eyes. Red looked concerned and whined a bit, like a dog. She opened her eyes barely and smiled at him, patting him on the nose. "I'm okay, Red. Really."

He didn't seem convinced, but he curled up on his seat with his head on his paws. The tip of his tail burned, I noticed now, with some kind of flame. Later, I'd ask Red about himself, but we needed to figure out where we were going.

"Plot me a course to Kalm," Reno said suddenly, as if reading my thoughts. "We have a full tank of fuel. It should get us there."

I nodded and called up the navigation system on the shipboard computer. There was a long ride ahead of us, and we needed to put as much space between us and ShinRa as possible.


	9. Tseng: The Shit Hits the Fan

_Tseng: The Shit Hits the Fan_

* * *

"_Announcement," _I heard a sudden voice on the building PA say,_ "Will all silver-haired rescuers please proceed to the helipad on the 70th floor? Please avoid incompetent SOLDIERS and intruders on the main stairs if at all possible. Thank you very much and have a nice fucking ShinRa day!"_

No. No, no, no, no, _no_. That wasn't Reno's voice I heard over the speakers directly above my head. It couldn't be. Because if it was that would mean …

The hall in which I stood with Rude at my side was suddenly awash in the flashing red lights of the alarm system; the building sirens blared with enough force to render me deaf. I closed my eyes. It _had_ been Reno. And judging from the context of his announcement, things were now severely fucked. All this time he'd been MIA, he must have been with our resident psycho-fuck doctor – how he'd escaped I had no clue, but somehow he'd managed to find Seph and tell him about Aerith's captivity …

Consequently blowing any chances of a quiet, unnoticed escape all to hell.

"Intruders …" Rude muttered ominously. I noticed he'd already drawn his gun. Today, I thought with a heavy sigh, was not going to be a fun day.

"Have I ever told you, Rude, how much I hate my job sometimes?" I asked, withdrawing my own handgun and slipping out the magazine to check that I had full rounds. He was saved from answering by the sudden ringing of the phone in my office. I contemplated ignoring it, thought about shooting it, and finally decided I might as well answer it. Who knew, maybe I'd discover I'd won the lottery or a vacation on some tropical island that was far, far, _far_ away from this city …

I strode into the room and pressed the button for speaker phone. "Tseng, here," I snapped.

"T-Tseng, sir," stuttered an obviously terrified male voice. "S-sir, there are … there are …"

"There are what?" I almost shouted. Did we have any competent officers that didn't piss themselves at the slightest sign of trouble?

"S-Sir, some intruders a-are wiping out t-the entire b-barracks, sir," he told me.

"What," I asked very slowly and not without some disbelief, "intruders?"

"S-Some … _Oh God!" _I heard the unmistakable sound metal slicing cleanly through flesh. "_Please, no!_ " The last cry reached a horrific crescendo, and then the line went dead. Sighing, I turned to Rude where he stood in the doorway.

"Someone," I said flatly, stressing the word, "is massacring the SOLDIER barracks." That in itself didn't really bother me. What bothered me was-

The phone rang yet again. I eyed it for a moment, knowing that to answer it would only bring more bad news; Rude stepped up and pressed the speaker button.

"Tseng?"

Ah, lovely. The dulcet and incredibly furious tones of none other than Rufus ShinRa.

"_Tseng?_ You'd better be there or-"

"I'm here, sir." And I stoically readied myself for the lambasting I knew was imminent, all the while praying that what I had suspected had come to pass hadn't actually come to pass …

"_Reno is stealing my helicopter!"_ Impressive; I didn't know Rufus' voice could shriek like that. His words, however, proved that my suspicions were right.

"I'll get right on it, sir. I'll straighten this out."

"You'd fucking better!" And with that, the line went dead for the second time in as many minutes. I was really starting to hate phones. Smoke signals, I thought wistfully –now there was a way to communicate …

And then my thoughts moved to Reno. May the Gods have mercy on his soul, because I sure the fuck wasn't going to.

"Well?" Rude asked, ever the silent observer, leaning against my desk.

"I cannot fucking believe he's stealing a helicopter." I mumbled; I was stressed enough now that my accent had made an appearance, and I saw Rude smirk a little before trying hastily to mask it. I leveled upon him an icy glare. "We have two options. We can go and attempt to stop Reno like my lord Rufus has so nicely _suggested_, or we can head to the barracks and try and suppress the damage-"

"Reno." Rude said instantly, and I agreed. Fuck the SOLDIERs; if they couldn't handle themselves in combat, what good were they? Besides, I was actually a little worried about what Reno was playing at.

_A little worried?_ Asked my snide inner voice as both Rude and I left the office at a dead run.

All right, I was exceedingly concerned.

Minutes later, we were stepping off the elevator into the President's office. What immediately drew my gaze was the corpse of the corpulent president splayed rather ungracefully across his chair. His skin was the pasty white you only see when a body has been somewhat exsanguinated, but judging from the wounds he hadn't been dead long …

And then I saw, through the large windows which lined the entire north and south walls, that Rufus stood on the balcony. His head was tilted back, staring at something in the sky; I didn't have to guess what he was staring at. His long white coat and the longer lengths of his hair were billowing in the wind. I couldn't stop the small and unpleasant smile that curved my lips.

President ShinRa was dead. And all Rufus cared about was his helicopter. I gave a brief nod to Rude, indicating he was to follow me outside, and together we moved as one, guns held ready. The helicopter was just beginning to lift off the ground as we reached Rufus, and we fought the strong, steady currents of wind that the propellers blew over us. I watched as Rude grabbed Rufus to prevent him from doing something stupid. I ignored them both and decided to make it look like I wanted to stop the escapees from completing their escape; I took aim and fired three shots. I am a perfect aim, and that's not arrogance talking; I had made sure the shots went wide of any of the passengers as well as the petrol tank.

"Fucking do something!" Rufus snarled. I just shook my head and shrugged.

"You want it back in one piece, right?" I shouted over the noise of the helicopter. The glare he gave me was ferocious, and I was fairly certain that had Rude not been restraining him, he would have attempted to unload a beating on me. I almost wish he would have. It had been a while since I'd been able to beat the fuck out of someone that actually deserved it.

I watched through the helicopters windshield as Reno produced an audacious grin and waved down at us all. To make myself feel better, as well as to make it seem like I actually didn't want them escaping, I raised my gun and took another shot. Reno jerked back and brushed frantically at his ear, and the smile that spread across my face this time was utterly vindictive.

The helicopter circled away from the building then, leaving us all to stare after it. I shook my head with a resigned sigh and turned to go back in the building when Rufus' voice stopped me.

"I suppose you have a plan?"

I paused, turning to look back at him as he pulled himself free of Rude's massive hands. "Not right now, but I will have." The expression in Rufus' eyes made it clear he didn't like my answer, but that was just too damn bad. Right now all I was concerned about was how long Sephiroth could keep Aerith out of ShinRa's grasp. Rufus opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off.

"Your father is dead. Aren't you going to mourn?"

He smirked a little. "I've done my mourning." He brushed past me, heading back into his father's- no, _his_- office. He'd mourned, all right. He'd mourned the fact that he hadn't been the one to send his old man into the afterlife. I gave Rude an inscrutable glance before following Rufus in. I hadn't been in the Presidential office one minute before the elevator dinged, and the doors slid open to emit one surgically maniacal Hojo. He approached us with short, agitated strides, and while he spoke to Rufus his beady eyes were focused completely on me.

"Three of my specimens managed to escape while this ruckus was going on," he said coldly.

Rufus only graced him with the merest of glances before continuing to examine his father's corpse. "Unfortunate," he remarked indifferently.

I watched as Hojo clenched his fists; I could almost see him clenching his jaw, and it brought me a small measure of mirth. "They happen to be important experiments. Especially the Ancient."

Ah yes. President's dead, company's in turmoil, and all Hojo was concerned about were his lab specimens. I wondered idly when the last time he'd been laid was. He needed it more than pretty much anyone I knew.

Rufus sighed loudly. "Find them, then, Hojo. I'm not stopping you."

Hojo glared at Rufus, moved his glare to me, and was pretty much foaming at the mouth before he turned and stormed back to the elevator.

"God, how I despise that man," Rufus muttered quietly. He was just about to say something further when a SOLDIER appeared at the door to the office. "What now?" Rufus demanded.

The SOLDIER saluted. "Sir! I was told to report to you about the situation, Sir!"

"Yes?"

"Every SOLDIER that was in the barracks at the time was killed. It looked as though the intruders were looking for something but couldn't find it. No one actually saw the intruders, Sir. All we know is that they are carrying blades of some sort."

"They?" Rufus asked. "If you never saw them, how do you know there's more than one?"

"With all due respect, Sir, no one can do that amount of damage on their own in less than half an hour."

I had to agree with him on that. Not even Sephiroth could do that amount damage in that time and to my knowledge there was no better swordsman than him.

Rufus waved the SOLDIER off with one flippant gesture. "Dismissed."

I pondered leaving with the SOLDIER, but was aware the dismissal wasn't meant for me. And so I stood patiently, with Rude at my side, waiting to hear what more it was Rufus had to say.

I didn't have to wait long. Having finished his somewhat morbid examination of his father's body, he turned to me. "I want you to keep track on Sephiroth and that Turk of yours."

I nodded; I'd expected this, and I wasn't going to complain. It gave me chance to see if Aerith was alright. I'd rather it be me watching them than anyone else, besides. "Sir." I said perfunctorily, and bowed my head slightly before turning and leaving the room. I heard Rude fall into step behind me, and as we passed through the double doors I cast him a glance over my shoulder.

"Why have I got the feeling this is going to amount to a lot more?" I asked him.

"Because it's going to," he told me matter-of-factly.

Couldn't argue with him there -he was right.

Gods, what I wouldn't give sometimes for a normal desk job.


	10. Reno: Forced Relations and Strange Sensa...

_Reno: Forced Relations and Strange Sensations.

* * *

_

The nearest place to us was Kalm. We could make it just outside there, use the woods to travel and get over the mountain range on foot. I was sure that Seph hadn't thought any of this out. To be honest I was a bit miffed at letting myself be ordered around by him. With all this shit I was going through, I was damned if I was going to be a patsy again.

This chopper's full tank didn't have the amount of fuel I would have liked it to have (landing on the sea side of Kalm would have been best), but the woods to the east were all I could get.

I landed the chopper without much problem, in a clearing surrounded by woods. We could use it as a tent if weather didn't permit sleeping outside. I killed the engine, lighting a cigarette and rubbing at the side of my ear. Damn Se, he had to take everything so personally. I laughed a bit to myself, but the sound carried now that the engine was off.

"What Reno?" Seph snapped. Whoa, big guy was pissed off. I swear, he should have been thanking me.

"You don't think Se's a good actor?" I asked, hopping from the chopper.

Seph smirked, earning a look of pure shock from Aerith, who was still cowering behind him. "You didn't need to flip him off."

"I was flipping off Rufus." I responded, pulling a knapsack out of the chopper. Aerith almost fell backwards, I swear, loose your mag rod in someone's ribcage and kill one pesky person or two with a surgical tool, then with your boot, and everyone labels you a homicidal case.

The big cat jumped down, looking around. He seemed at least to understand things, pulling a pack out as well. "Where is this going?" He asked me.

I pulled out my materia and walked around the clearing. "Just around the edges, we should be safe for the night." He nodded, then began to do just as I asked him. I liked this cat.

"Seph, uhm, love, can I talk to you? Alone?" I could feel Aerith's scared green eyes on me. This would be quite a trip I could already tell.

The two love birds took off, and I helped the cat, while Aerith called him Red, he told me his name was Nanaki. We found a few logs worthy of sitting on and made a fire. He watched me cautiously, while I looked over my shirt and tie. I began to walk back to the chopper to see if any of my old clothes were still in it. Then he spoke at last.

"You frighten her," he said quietly. I didn't need to ask who he meant.

"I know I do, but there really isn't anything to be done about it." I responded, fishing out an old tee shirt. Further inspection of the space I had stored clothing revealed that I had a hoodie in there as well, but no clean pants.

"You kept your word." His one eye gazed steadily at me, measuring. "You came back to help us. I don't think you're as bad as she thinks."

"I- ah, thanks…" I blinked at him, rolling out the hooded sweatshirt. I threw both my tie and dress shirt into the craft with a growl. I promised myself I would never wear a tie again, I haven't, just in case you were wondering. I slid into the tee- shirt, when I flipped the hoodie over to put it on, my copy of Candide flopped onto the dirt. I could have cheered, I was worried I would be bored to death.

Nanaki's eye widened. "You read Voltaire?"

I laughed then, figured that the cat would be well read, he certainly sounded like he was. "Yeah, I liked Tartuffe better then Candide though, and Borges is always going to be my favorite writer." I stopped myself from ranting, the cat's face was far more expressive then I would have thought.

A slow smile spread across his face. "You are...not quite what I thought. I believe we will have a lot to talk about." He yawned, showing huge pointed teeth, and settled down. "You should talk to Aerith. She is afraid now, but she's in shock. She's really very nice, you know."

I scooped up the book and walked with him back to the fire. "Yeah, I know she is. I, however am not exactly the right person to connect with someone like her. I understand she's afraid, but what else was I supposed to do?"

He shrugged. "I don't see why you can't connect with her. All you need to do is talk." He lashed his tail once, twice, then curled it around his paws. "She's taking a long time with General Sephiroth."

I returned the shrug. "He was worried about her." I tried and failed to run a hand through my hair. "Damnit…" The blood was literally caked to me. I know I looked like a mess. Back at Seph's I had barely had the time to push any excess Mako from my wound and wrap that up. My hair and clothing were not an issue then. Now, however, I did have time. I pushed the book at Nanaki. "I'm going to clean up a bit, there's a stream north of here."

The cat flipped a page with his nose. For not having hands, he had amazing control. "Be careful, Reno." I fished for another smoke without responding to him and walked into the clearing.

I hadn't _wanted_ to, honestly, I didn't mean to. But I overheard Seph and his flower girl. Her voice was strained, can't say I blame her. I was going to put it off and go to the stream, but then I heard my name mentioned.

"I don't like it, Seph," she was saying. Were they actually arguing? There was a novelty. "He's a killer."

He frowned, rubbing the back of his neck. "He's not a killer, Rith." He started. Sephiroth was defending _me?_ Oh this was good.

She fixed him with an incredulous glare. "Not a killer?" she began loudly, then hushed herself. "Not a killer? What about those scientists? How do you explain _them_?"

"He was scared Rith, you don't understand," he tried again. Wow, and here I thought he really always hated me. Damn did I feel loved. And itchy in my scalp where the blood had dried. More so itchy then loved...

"And the President?" She dropped his hand and paced a few steps away, then a few steps back. "Listen, Seph, he may be your friend. But he enjoyed killing those men. He quite _obviously _enjoyed killing the President" she looked a little green at the memory. "How can you think he's stable? I'll admit it, I'm afraid. I don't like this!"

Stable? Well no, I wasn't. But hell, you look at the man that had previously ordered you to kill a wheelchair bound man and his two kids and NOT want him dead, in a pool of his own blood, with piranhas eating his insides. I kept my mouth shut. At least leaving the group wouldn't be hard. I debated walking away right then.

"Aerith, I know, I know he did, but you don't understand what kind of person ShinRa was." He raked a hand through his hair reminding me of my inability to do so. "And what other choice did he have with the scientists? They would have called Hojo right then and there."

She looked away, blinking like she was about to cry. She didn't have an answer for that. "I don't know," she said, much softer than her earlier words, "I don't know. I'm so scared, Seph."

He then walked over to her, ala cheesy romance novel and wrapped his arms around her. Thankfully, Seph wasn't one for purple prose. "Aerith, it is going to be okay. I promise, I won't let anyone hurt you. I promise."

She leaned back against him. They were like some greeting-card couple, I swear. Whatever else he said made her relax, just a little. At least I knew where I stood with her. Before I moved away, I heard her speak again. "I will try. I don't like it, but I'll try. I trust you, Seph."

I rolled my eyes and made my way to the stream. As far as I was concerned, they had nothing to worry about, I was going to be gone as soon as possible. ShinRa wouldn't be on our heels for days. And that in and of itself was going to be a massive cover up. After all, the two men who tore the whole place apart were supposed to be dead.

Zax Valence and the newest wonder boy in ShinRa, Cloud Strife. Both thought dead at Neibelheim. Neither one dead at all. Zax, while a nice enough guy, had a bad habit with younger people, both male and female. Also, it didn't take a rocket scientist to tell he was very bitter about Seph usurping his position. Of course, Seph wasn't your average rocket scientist. I had about 6500 gil that said Seph had no idea the dark haired man harbored any ill will.

And then there was Cloud. I had trained with the guy myself for a while. He was quiet, very good with a sword, fairly boring. That is if you leave out his supposed trysts with Zax. Regardless of how the two felt about each other, they dismantled that base. When I met Cloud's eyes, there was no recognition. He was in another world. I shuddered involuntarily. They were remarkable. I hoped to never see them again.

I removed my shirt and the rest of my clothing and sat them on the bank. Testing the water with my foot first I drew it back with a growl. The water was cold, despite spring starting to make way in the area. A quick jump into the water made me feel a little better, at least it broke up some of the blood in my hair. I couldn't manage to stay in long enough to get rid of it all, and my arm positively throbbed.

Getting out of the water I examined the spot the needle went into my arm. There was a deep purple and black bruise, outlining the place it had been inserted. Another shiver raked me and I put my clothes back on. Sitting on the rock, rubbing my arm, I looked back to the clearing. I knew I should have walked away. But looking behind me into the woods and most certain nothingness, I felt very small. Getting up I limped my way back to the camp. All I knew right then was I was sore, tired, and I really didn't want to be alone.

The others all stopped speaking and stared at me when I got back to the fire. It felt good to be warm. However, looking at the three of them, I felt like an intruder. "Where were you for so long?" Seph growled at me.

I just glared at him, eyes narrowing. I then stood up and shifted through the supplies. I was being anti social I know, but I didn't give three whoops in hell about that. "Someone needs to go to the 24 hour store in Kalm." I started, ignoring his pervious question. "We don't have any ammo, sleeping bags, or enough food for all of us." He had packed for two, three tops, the idiot. Of course, it was the flower girl, and she caused Seph's brain to go bu-byes.

Seph blinked at me like I was speaking in tongues.

"But won't they recognize you?" Aerith spoke up, surprising me. She still stood half-behind Seph. But hell, it was better then her previous insistence that I was an insane killer.

"The cops would be on me before I got three feet in the town line." I responded. "Seph, however, won't be that easy to spot. There are all those people that dress up like him anyway."

Nanaki laughed. "Yes, you could just be a cosplayer." I smiled back at him, it was nice that irony wasn't lost on all of us.

Oh, I didn't mention that yet? People around here are _strange_ sometimes let me tell you. It's very common place to have people dress up like or emulate their favorite celebrity. Seph was one of the more famous people around, meaning cosplayers abounded. Hell, I bumped into at least three of him a day. I couldn't imagine what that would be like. At least I didn't have to ever worry about things like that. No one idolized Turks.

He pulled out a hooded coat from his pack. "Right. Just what I need, to parade around like someone parading around like me."

Sometimes, he has moments of brilliance that he makes without notice. I laughed at what he said, earning a look. "You have no idea how interesting that sentence was do you?" I questioned, earning a smile from Nanaki.

"Just stay here and keep an eye on Aerith." He snapped. "No running off, no leaving this spot. Understood?"

Again my eyes narrowed. When would he get with the program and learn that we were out of ShinRa and if he wanted something done he would have to ask nicely?

Nanaki broke the tension, offering to go with Sephiroth. Seph nodded to the cat, and wrapped Aerith up in another hug. He ignored me rolling my eyes, I know that he saw me. "Are you going to be alright love?"

She looked a little panicky, but calmed down after he hugged her. "II'll be ok. Just...hurry back?" She couldn't disguise her fear.

I shook my head and scooped up the book, saving Nanaki's place. What did she think? That I was going to rape her and then eat her heart out while damning all twelve gods and demons to whatever hell I made up? I had risked my ass to help them. And so far, lets count the thank yous… yup, zero.

She started wandering around the camp, inspecting flowers, the trees, and other near dawn life forms. Then she started moving away from the clearing. "Hey." I called to Aerith, trying to keep my voice more cordial then I felt.

She jumped at the sound of my voice, clutching her hand to her heart. "Y-yes?"

I stood up, sitting the book down. "Just be careful. We didn't check the place out very well, and trappers like to leave things behind out here." I sighed, I didn't want Aerith to be afraid of me, but I wasn't going to be saying I was sorry when I wasn't.

"Trappers?" she looked genuinely confused. "What kinds of things would they leave?"

I blinked at her, remembering she was from Midgar, and odds are, Aerith wasn't into the old nature person books I had read. I walked over to her, and then motioned for her to follow me. "You know, game traps and things like that, the hunters leave them over night. Getting your leg caught in one of those is bad news."

Her fear seemed to be put on the back burner after hearing that information. "What about the animals who get caught? Doesn't it hurt them?"

Frowning I nodded. "They die, but it's a way of life out here, people gotta eat." Once on the game trail it didn't take me very long to find one, Tseng had showed me a few the first time I was in the woods. I didn't forget steel trap doors with teeth very easily. "Here," I pushed her back, picking up a larger stick and pressed against the metal plate. The trap snapped up loudly, waking some birds who, by all rights, should have been up already. I mean the sun was rising, they needed to get with the program. I then looked at Aerith, holding up the now broken stick. "See, you have to watch out, that could have been your foot."

She looked horrified. "But...the animals...that's awful!" She was on the verge of tears…again. At least my message got through to her; she got a lot more careful of where she put her feet after that.

Well, fuck, I hadn't wanted to make Aerith cry, only make her be more careful. Tossing the stick on the ground we looked at each other, I wanted to say something, but damn me if I am not a nice guy at all. At last an idea came to me. If it hit me hard the first time I saw one, a sunrise would floor Aerith. "Come here, I wanna show you something a bit nicer then that."

Her expression was skeptical, but she followed me. "What is it?"

There was a hill, back where I had jumped in the stream, I lead her on top of it and pointed east. "Look there, trust me." I pointed to where the sky was starting to lighten, purple melting into pinks from the dark sky.

She gasped at the sight, and the best part hadn't even happened yet. "What is this?" she whispered, eyes fixed on the changing colors.

"Sunrise," I responded, with no little feeling of satisfaction. The sky seemed to realize that it was being watched that morning, it really put on a show. Gold melted into the horizon line, followed by the light of the sun. It chased up the clearing, bathing everything in new light. "It happens every day." I said simply.

Wouldn't you know it, she started crying anyway. After I tried to show her something she'd like, too. She seemed to realize what I was thinking, though, and she turned to me. "I just... this is- you say it happens every day? Just like this?"

"Hey, ah, I," This is all I needed, Seph would ream me one, and I was too sore to handle that. "Yeah. Every day, sometimes the colors are different, sometimes its raining, sometimes, well, sometimes its all red." I looked at the grass. "I just remembered how I felt the first time I saw one..."

"How can they do it?" she asked, not really directing the question to anyone. "How can they hide this? I never knew...I never saw anything like this." She began to sound angry. "How can ShinRa hide the sky?"

For the first time, it seemed, Aerith and I understood each other. "I don't know how ShinRa did a lot of things," I hissed. It was a luxury to be able to actually say that out loud, though from the venom in my voice, one wouldn't have known it.

Her thin hands clenched into fists. "They are wrong. I always knew but I never understood until now. People live their whole lives under the Plate, and they don't have to! Look at this!" She gestured widely, taking in the whole forest, the whole meadow. "It's green and alive! The air is pure! What do they gain by keeping all those people in Midgar?"

That I did have the answer to. "Money, power, fear." I looked away from her. I knew how she felt, but I lacked her passion. I knew Midgar, I was a product of it. Despite the fact that we felt the same way, I knew how it worked. More then that, I had excepted it. "They got whatever they wanted, Aerith." I responded. "People, we weren't people to them."

She looked back out at the sunrise like she still didn't quite believe what she saw. "We could stop them," she murmured.

What did she just say? I blinked at her. "What?" I would have laughed, but she was serious. "You and what army?" She spun at me, eyes wide again. "Aerith, I don't mean to sound like an ass here, but listen to yourself. ShinRa is a super power. They get their way or else. You really can't be serious, can you?"

She raised her chin, still watching the sun. "We have Sephiroth. Red has friends. We could build an army. You took down the President all on your own." A sly glance came my way from the corner of her eyes. "The Turks aren't loyal to ShinRa. We could go to Wutai"

"No." I responded as soon as she mentioned Se and Rude. "No way, no way in hell I am going to make them risk Hojo for some dream." Gods, did she _hear_ herself? "I removed the President yes," I continued, then I raised my arms in a shrug. "'The king is dead, long live the king' Rufus is there to take his place. And Wutai? If I were Seph I would want to stay far away from there." I turned to head back to camp. "Please Aerith, I know how you feel, but think about what you are saying."

"I _am_ thinking. I mean it, Reno. We could do it. Sephiroth knows all the weaknesses of the company he's just never exploited them. You and Se know whatever Seph doesn't. If we could get him to go to Wutai, maybe no one would expect it!" She practically bounced, she was so excited. "There has to be a way to do it. All those peopleReno, you were one of them once, you said so yourself. I was one until just now. Imagine if you'd had this to grow up in, instead of the slums?"

She had to go there, didn't she? She had to go there. I looked down, still with my back to her. "But I did grow up in those slums Aerith. You said it yourself, you pegged me right away. I'm no hero. None of the Turks are, as nice as Se has always been to you. And neither he nor Seph would be wise to go to Wutai…" Was she forgetting that Tseng was branded a traitor? Did she forget that Seph single handedly leveled the royal house of Wutai?

"There has to be a way." She really believed it, I could tell. Did Seph know she was like this? "There _has_ to." We stood there, me looking backwards and her looking at the sunrise. Just as I was about to go back to camp she spoke up again. "Reno?"

I took a breath before looking over my shoulder to her. "Yes?"

"I'm sorry about what I said earlier." I could hear her playing with her dress a bit, trying to word herself properly. "I didn't even thank you for helping us back there...so thank you. You didn't have to come back, but you did."

I blinked at her, totally taken off guard. Someone actually thanked me? And the girl that basically hated me less then an hour ago? I needed to lay down. "Don't mention it, I did promise ya, and I don't break promises." I responded, feeling extremely awkward. "Let's go back to the camp, Seph will think I have run off with you or something equally demented." Him and I had a great deal to talk about, when we got back to camp. Primarily getting this stupid idea out of his girl's head.

She laughed. She really laughed. Maybe she was nuts, or maybe she was just naive. Either way, it felt a little better to have one less burden to worry about. Now if only she would stop talking like a revolutionary, I thought we may even make it out of that mess alive. Regardless, I wasn't interested in helping her, not at that moment.

Together we walked down the hill where Seph and Nanaki were waiting. True to my prediction, the general looked at me as though I was trying to take his woman. "What were you doing?" He snapped at me. I scowled, both of us knew that if I wanted Aerith, I would have killed him by now. Ignoring him yet again, I walked to the chopper to plug in my mag rod and check my clips.

I heard him draw breath to speak, but then Aerith leapt into his arms. "Seph! I saw a sunrise!" I looked over my shoulder, enjoying yet again, the confused Sephiroth expression. I should take a picture of that and sell it as a cheer me up. Worked wonders let me tell you. "Reno showed me!" She chirped, "I never knew anything like that could happen, Seph. Do you ever look at them?"

Even with my back turned, I could feel his eyes on me. He was being ridiculous, really he was. There were more important things to do then make up an excuse to fight. I returned to the camp, watching Seph divvy out some food. "Any news on things?" He blinked at me again. "You know, ShinRa?" I snapped.

I could almost hear him growl at my tone. "Well, it appears that you are now public enemy number one. Stealing a helicopter, two prize specimens, killing two high end scientists, _and_ the President. Good job there."

Oooo sarcasm. I was so bitten. See how good I am at it too? I held out my hand for something to eat, receiving an apple and a sandwich. I sat down next to Nanaki, crossing my legs and leaning my back on a log. "I figured that much. No word on you or the intruders on the stairway?"

Taking a bite, Seph laughed. "Oh, there's word on me. I, in a flurry of bravery and call to defend the honor and position of ShinRa, have vowed to hunt you to the ends of the earth and not return without your head... or something to that effect, Rufus babbled on forever."

For the first time, Seph and I laughed together. It was also the first time I didn't feel like an outsider around this group. "That means, Se and Rude are the lucky two huh?"

Seph nodded. "Takes a load off my mind I am sure. I would hate to have that general come here and tear things up."

Again I laughed. Sephiroth had humor! Call the press, the paper, and the national guard. "What about the intruders?"

Seph shrugged. "Not a damn word. Oh, you apparently let off a few bombs too, on your way to kill the president. You're quite the terrorist."

I gritted my teeth, well aware that there was a pretty hefty price on my head. I was, however, not thinking about how much Rufus would be able to pin on me. "Then, Seph, I think you and I have a problem."

He blinked at me. "What do you mean?"

"On the stairs, looking for the labs, the intruders were Zax and Cloud." At his blank look, I filled in, "blond kid, about my age, can actually lift an ultima weapon and use it-"

"I know who you are talking about!" He snapped. "Reno, that's impossible."

"We never found their bodies in Neibelheim." I responded.

"They. Are. Dead." Seph ground out. "We didn't find a lot of people."

I was sore, tired, the food hit my stomach with little appeasement. I was done with talking to this sliver haired brick wall. "Look, why the fuck even ask me then? I mean shit, you've made it quite fucking clear I am unwelcome, don't you worry, I don't plan on traipsing around with you any more then I have to." Tossing part of the paper from the sandwich into the fire I stretched and winced. "So lay off." I got out a bedroll and flopped it out.

"Reno-" Seph started, but Aerith put her hand on his arm.

"But Reno, what about what we talked about? What about stopping ShinRa? What about stopping Zax and Cloud?" Well she believed me at least.

Kneeling to look at her from the bedroll, I shook my head. "I thought I made myself clear, Aerith. No way in hell, heaven or anywhere in between am I going to do that hero stuff. Goes against my character."

She looked at Seph for support. "But, but this isn't right! They have to be stopped."

"Good luck with that." I responded as I started to lay down. "I'm out of here in the morning."

She shook her head. "No, no, Reno, we are so close to Midgar, what if they catch you and take you back to Hojo?"

I sat back up, cocking an eyebrow at her. Seph was as shocked as I was it seemed. "That, I can assure you will happen over my dead body."

"Please, just, stay with us till we get over the mountain then? At least hear us out when we plan things?"

I flopped on my back, "I'll sleep on it." I muttered at her.

I was already half asleep when I heard her say thank you.


	11. Sephiroth Moving On

_Sephiroth- Moving On

* * *

_

Morning came, and I woke to find my arms empty and my bedroll still smelling like Aerith's hair. The camp was empty, though I could hear her delighted laughter some short distance behind me. She didn't sound like she was in any trouble, so I re-rolled the blanket and stretched before going quietly in the direction of her voice.

It hit me again, a wave of jealousy as I came upon her and Reno, sitting side by side by the cliff. They were watching the sun rise—something I'd meant to do and forgotten, now for the second time. They didn't seem to notice me yet, but I could hear their conversation.

"…and I figured, he said to follow orders to the letter, so I did. No one could blame me." Reno's grin split his face. "Thirty-six hours I stood there, and didn't move 'til Seph came and ordered me to." At Aerith's peal of laughter, he shrugged nonchalantly. "Hey, it was a General who issued the order, shouldn't be anyone less than a General who told me to stand down. I was only following orders."

"I wish I could have seen his face," said Aerith, "Poor Seph. You were so hard on him."

"Hey, remember, he was hard on us." Reno sounded defensive. Good. He knew I was simply doing my job. It wasn't my fault that he'd made things difficult for himself.

Aerith sobered. "Reno, please…do me a favor?" She looked away from him and out at the bright horizon. "Try to get along with him? It's not the old days where he was your commanding officer. You both just gave up on ShinRa, and there are no ranks out here. But he knows what he's doing." I could see her eyes turn to him again, wide and pleading.

She'd turned that look on me in the past. I knew from experience that it was hard to resist. For a moment, however, I thought Reno might. Then he scowled at her, his former good mood gone "I'll get along with him when he understands just that, Aerith. You're right. There are no ranks now, but I also have a good idea of what I am doing. I didn't come out of ShinRa to be bullied around again. I have enough issues with this trip as it is."

"At least try. That's all I ask."

He scoffed without much heat and stood. If I was going to avoid looking like an eavesdropper, I realized that I needed to move. I stepped forward.

For once, I got to enjoy the rare sight of Reno's surprise, though he recovered admirably. "Seph."

"Reno," I nodded, brushing past him. Reno snorted at me and stalked off to the camp.

Aerith patted the ground beside her and beamed at me. "Come sit down, Seph. The sun was so pretty this morning!" I settled myself next to her and she leaned her head on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly. "I meant to get up and watch the sunrise with you."

She shook her head. "It's okay. You were tired, and I gave you a lot to think about last night." Her fingers toyed with a lock of her hair as she gazed out over the plains below. "You heard me talking to Reno, didn't you?"

I nodded. I thought about dissembling for a moment, but it wouldn't serve any purpose here. "Why is it so important that he stays, Miss Change-of-opinion?"

"The Planet wants him," she said simply. "We need his help."

"We?"

She pulled away and knelt to face me. "I've been thinking. What if we went after ShinRa?"

That hadn't been what I expected her to say. This was a new side to the woman I thought I knew. "Went after them, how? Why?"

"To take them down, of course." The way she said it was so matter-of-fact, as if it was plain. "To free everyone."

I took her hands in mine and chose my words. "Sweetheart, there are only four of us. All of us—no matter what the reports say—ALL of us are wanted. We need to run as far away as we can before they find us again."

"No, no, no!" She frowned. "We'd need to plan, of course, but we could do it! Stop the reactors, stop the experiments. Let the people in the slums know there's a whole world out here."

"They don't care about the world out here," I said flatly.

Aerith wouldn't accept that. "They would if they knew it existed. I did. Reno did, too."

"Back to Reno?" I shook my head. "He has no loyalty to us, no reason to stay. Frankly, I wouldn't mind if he took off on his own, after hearing that report."

"Yes, you would." She looked away. "We need him, and he needs us."

Jealousy rose up in me. "If you want him to stay so badly, why not go after him and tell him so?"

She looked startled, then indignant. "This is not about me. I did change my opinion of him. I admit that I misjudged him." Something sank in, and I watched her expression change again. "Wait, you think that he and I—oh, for heaven's sake."

With a sound of disdain, she yanked her hands away and started to climb to her feet. I stopped her, barely, and pulled her back down to wrap her in my arms.

"I'm sorry. It's not that I really thought that; I'm just on edge about everything."

"Then you'll think of my idea? About ShinRa?" She relaxed a little.

I sighed. "Bloodthirsty little thing, aren't you?"

"Sephiroth," she admonished, "no one should go their entire lives without seeing the sun rise."

There wasn't anything I could say to that.

We lapsed into silence, listening to the birds and the wind blowing around us. The cliff was in a lightly wooded area, its rough-hewn face overlooking the road to Kalm. I had to admit that Reno had done a good job by landing us here. We would have made a fine target out on the plains.

Finally, I had to admit that Aerith was probably right. Despite his irreverence, Reno was an excellent fighter. Hell, he was a Turk, wasn't he? Tseng always praised his skill, and even I knew he had the potential to be great. If it hadn't been for his defiant nature, Reno might have even been able to rise in rank. I mentioned this to Aerith.

"He doesn't want that," she said matter-of-factly. "He told me he never wanted to be part of it in the first place."

There were too many similarities between Reno and me for my comfort. "It doesn't mean I have to like him."

"Yes, it does!" Aerith shifted. "You have to learn to trust each other, and not like this. You have to be like friends, or brothers."

"Brothers fight," I reminded her, but she merely hmph-ed.

"Brothers who fight will also defend each other against an outside enemy." She glanced shrewedly up at me. "Would you do that for him? Would you put yourself in harm's way to keep him safe? Probably not, not yet. And neither would he."

I had no answer to that. She sighed and stood. "Seph, he respects you, and I know you respect him. But respect isn't enough, sometimes." She scooped up her jacket and pulled it on. "I'm going to see if they need help packing up."

She bent to kiss the top of my head, then went back toward the camp with her careful walk. I stayed where I was, thinking.

What did she mean, that respect wasn't enough? Was I actually supposed to treat Reno like a brother? I coughed with laughter at the idea, but quickly suppressed it when I remembered something. A commander in SOLDIER, one of the few who saw through ShinRa.

He had died in Wutai, leading his men in a charge. That in itself was not as uncommon as it may seem; I have said before that Wutai was a slaughterhouse. We lost many good men on both sides to that thrice-damned war. I had liked this officer, though, and he bore me no ill will for being almost twenty years his junior and a General to boot. I learned much from watching him with his men. Save for Zax and a few of the third class SOLDIERS, I had no unit of my own.

Many commanders were able to inspire their men; that was what made them good leaders. But this man…I remember that his men loved him. He genuinely cared about the men who served under him. He ignored the rules against the fraternization of officers and enlisted men. He diced with them, drank with them, but meted out discipline when it was due. Then, when it was time for that last charge, three of them threw themselves in front of him to deflect attacks meant for him.

I saw him weep as the third one was cut down, then he called his remaining men to regroup.

After that, I had to defend my own life against the tide of Wutaian foot-soldiers, and I saw him no more. Later, when they bore his body from the battlefield, the three or four men who were left wept for him. I saw to it that they were given leave to go home if they wished, but they all elected to stay until the end.

Was that what Aerith wanted for Reno and me? That kind of bond of loyalty and devotion? I couldn't help but wonder if she'd set me an impossible task.

But then it was time to go.

I reached the camp just in time to see Nanaki pulling zipper on a bag with his teeth. He had amazing dexterity for a creature without opposable thumbs. At my approach, he spoke around the metal tab. "Reno suggested we leave soon." He let the bag go and rested a paw on top of it. "He said ShinRa will be able to track the helicopter."

"All right," I replied, then turned to Reno. "You have a plan?"

He appeared as though he was reading my face, the same way I knew Tseng did. When he responded, it was dismissive, as if he felt that where we should go would be obvious. "We should go to the chocobo farm that's east of here. Can't cross the swamp otherwise."

"And after that?"

He took a breath. "Hellif I know, I'm just along fer the ride."

This was exactly what drove me crazy about him. No accountability, no planning. "So we're just going to run around the countryside, looking for two people who may or may not be Zax and Cloud? That's your problem, Reno, you don't think about the next step. You're always just 'along for the ride'. It makes me so angry to see such potential wasted."

"And your problem is that you somehow think that I care about your opinion or that you have any authority over me one way or the other," Reno hissed. I was surprised that he would mouth off at such an important moment. He knew we needed to move.

I hefted a bag and tossed the other at him. "Someone needs to be in charge here, and I have the most experience. Just carry something and let's get moving." I helped Aerith up from where she sat lacing up her boots. "We'll have to travel as fast as we can; if we can get chocobos at the farm, we'll be able to cross the swamp. From there, we have to pass through the mountains, and from then on we'll be out of ShinRa's immediate reach."

As I moved away, the others following, I noticed Reno standing with the bag at his feet. "Something wrong, Reno? Or are you coming?"

"You runnin' to ShinRa or away from 'em?" He flicked the butt of the cigarette away. I think he finished it in four drags.

"Seph—" Aerith murmured, but I had stopped listening. "What the hell was that supposed to mean?" I closed the distance to him in six strides. Just like our old SOLDIER days—me yelling in Reno's face, him with that insolent glare. _"Turk?"_

He looked at me as though I'd called him a racial slur. There looked to be a moment where he really wanted to fight with me, and I was more then ready to oblige at this point. We weren't exactly nose to nose yet, though tension crackled enough. "Take yer head outta yer ass. You want me ta get shit clear? What's that? Yer the boss? Bullshit. News flash: we aren't in Midgar anymore."

"What do you want me to do?" I cried. "What? Salute you and ask you nicely what you'd like to do next? It doesn't work like that, Reno, and you never seemed to understand that. We are out in the middle of nowhere, running for our lives from the most powerful corporation in the world. Not only that, but we have with us one person who's never been out of the city in her life, who's wanted by them more than both of us combined. I am responsible for her safety, and dammit, if that means I take charge, then by the gods, I take charge. You either get in line or get lost."

I heard Aerith and Nanaki gasp a half-second before I saw him move. Reno was fast; the Turk reflexes certainly weren't wasted on him. A Death Penalty—probably the one from the helicopter—had appeared a centimeter from my eye. I didn't dare breathe. Turks don't draw their weapons unless they're prepared to use them. There are few times I can honestly say I was afraid for my own life. This was one of them.

We stood like that for hours, years, the barrel of the gun so close I could almost feel how cold the steel was. Reno's chest rose and fell raggedly, but the gun never wavered. Aerith whimpered from behind me. Nanaki cautiously approached and cleared his throat.

"We can go to Cosmo Canyon," he said in a reasonable, even tone, "I want to let my family know I'm all right. They'll want to thank you. Both of you." Under his breath, he added, "If you both live that long."

Reno took one last deep breath. "Just—get out of my face," he said wearily. "Just fucking get out of my face." The gun disappeared, smoothly returned to somewhere on his body. Then he picked up the pack again and brushed past me.

"Come on, Nanaki," he called back, not looking at me. "I always wanted to see the desert."

Nanaki gave me a sympathetic look, then followed Reno down the hill. My own gaze found Aerith standing near the remains of the campfire, knuckles white. She was trembling.

I would have done anything for a drink right then. Instead, I put my arm around her and we walked together.

"Brothers," I said softly.

"You can do it," she murmured.

I wasn't so sure, but we had a long walk ahead of us. I could think about it on the way.


End file.
